EU may restrict foreign access to energy assets 

A confidential Commission Working Paper, obtained by the FT, suggests that foreign firms may be faced with a series of measures designed to restrict their access to EU gas- and electricity-transmission networks. 

Such restrictions could range from "thorough examinations" of a foreign firm's bid to an outright ban on most foreign bidders, based on the notion that the EU's energy sector is a "strategic industry" requiring protection.

A "reciprocity clause" that would restrict in particular those countries that deny full market access to European companies may also be included in the measures. Russia and Saudi Arabia, for example, impose severe restrictions on European companies that try to invest in energy-market assets on their territory.

Fears exist that further liberalisation of EU energy markets - in particular through "ownership unbundling" (EurActiv 03/08/07) - will lead to foreign control not only over energy supply but also distribition networks. 

A separate internal Commission working document obtained by FT Deutschland warns that if too many gas and electricity distribution assets are sold off to non-EU countries, the EU could become "vulnerable" to outside political leveraging or other non-economic moves.

Previous supply cuts by Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom to the Ukraine were widely seen as a pressure tactic designed to affirm Russia's political influence on its western border (EurActiv 04/01/06). Gazprom has "intense ambitions" to expand its existing assets the EU's energy market, according to the FT. 

The Commission is due to publish its proposals on further liberalisation of EU energy markets on 19 September.