Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız and Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union Maroš Šefcovic announced a joint draft declaration that launched Turkey-EU High Level Energy Dialogue. As it is known, upgrading cooperation among parties was discussed during the first meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku on the 12 February 2015. In the draft joint declaration a strong emphasis was placed on Turkey’s role as an energy hub between energy resources in the Middle Eastern and Caspian Regions and EU energy markets. In addition, the benefit of Turkey's development as an energy hub  for both Turkey and EU was highlighted. This declaration was important to underline the level of Turkish compliance with the acquis communautaire. In this regard, Šefcovic stated that “both as a candidate country currently engaging in accession negotiations with the EU and a contributor to the EU’s energy security, Turkey has made an important progress in aligning its legislation with the acquis communautaire”.