Interview: French grid chief denounces EU 'ideology'[fr][de] 

E.ON's surprise offer, announced as EU energy ministers were meeting in Brussels to hold energy liberalisation talks, came at the worst possible moment for Germany and France, who are leading the opposition to the Commission's proposals (EurActiv 29/02/08).

Under the Commission's plans, vertically-integrated groups such as E.ON in Germany and EDF in France, would be forced to sell off their transmission grids to focus exclusively on electricity production and supply. This is a step which E.ON proposed to take in order to settle ongoing antitrust inquiries launched by Brussels.

But according to RTE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDF which is also a state-controlled company, such radical measures are not required in France.

"This question is not on the agenda as far as we are concerned," said Dominique Maillard, chairman of the Executive Board of RTE.

Maillard said the central issue rather lies in the independence and neutrality of Transmission System Operators (TSOs), qualities which he claims are "recognised attributes of RTE and to which we are particularly attached".

Rather, he suggested that the Commission's pro-liberalisation stance was driven by ideology. "In the current debate, one may get the impression that some are coming up with ready-made ideological responses. This is troubling."

Maillard instead advocates an "analytical approach" by which regulators would look at how the independence of TSOs is guaranteed in each European country. "I am thinking in particular of investment programmes, guarantees given to the executive and the existence of a code of good conduct".

"In France today, all these conditions are fulfilled in a satisfactory way; ownership unbundling therefore does not seem necessary."

Diplomats recently underlined France's "red lines" in the discussion. These are:

• Maintaining the ownership integrity of integrated energy firms;
• leaving decisions on global levels of investments and debt to the company decision-making structures, and;
• providing guarantees over returns on investments in new networks.

After the last meeting of EU energy ministers on 28 February, Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency, said experts would discuss "all the proposals" which are on the table. "We cannot and we must not ignore reservations by member states," said Slovene Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak, adding that he was aiming to reach a political agreement at the next meeting on 6 June (EurActiv 29/02/08).

To read the full interview on EurActiv France, please click here  (French only).