Until recently, the prevailing idea was that for the functioning of the energy system it is necessary to be composed of large plants and for energy to move from the centre of production to cities and places of consumption. With the advent of decentralized energy production systems and new technologies for their use, the original model is changing more and more. EU Directive 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources (RES) designates “prosumers”, i.e. at the same time both producers and consumers of renewable energy, as well as RES communities, while EU Directive 2019/944 introduced the term “citizen energy communities”, i.e. civil energy communities, provided that this Directive, in addition to the distributive production of electricity from RES, also includes electricity from other sources. EU member states are obliged to adopt their own regulations regarding the implementation of the directives, and after that the appropriate incentive measures. The Energy Communities initiative offers citizens new opportunities in terms of active involvement in energy issues. As they are decentralized RES-based projects, they promote the practice of sustainable energy production and consumption, as well as energy storage and exchange within the community. Traditionally passive consumer becomes an energy “prosumer”, a co-owner of a RES plant and a member of the energy community. There are thousands of so-called RES cooperatives in Europe, which are the most common organizational form of energy communities and can play an important role in the process of decentralization of the energy system. The transition to decentralized energy production has many advantages, namely: the use of local energy sources, increased security of local energy supply, shorter transport distances and reduced losses in energy transmission, encouraging community development and creating local jobs. The purpose of this paper is to bring closer to the general public in Serbia the concept of energy communities, what they are and what their role is, with most of the work dealing with energy communities in the EU.