Tag: Energy - 'ownership unbundling'

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger yesterday (28 February) gave governments more breathing space to pass energy liberalisation directives into national law as a 3 March deadline approaches. A month ago, not a single country had yet done so.

The European Parliament yesterday (22 April) endorsed an agreement struck by the EU institutions to curtail the power of energy giants and move closer to a truly internal gas and electricity market. However, critics said the measures did not go far enough in breaking up energy monopolies.

The European Commission closed an antitrust case against E.ON AG Wednesday (26 November) by formally accepting the German energy giant's commitment to selling a fifth of its power generation capacity along with its extra-high voltage distribution network.

European energy ministers managed to overcome a month-long deadlock over the opening of EU gas and electricity markets on Friday (10 October).

A decision by Vattenfall, Germany’s fourth electricity supplier, to sell off its high-voltage grid was welcomed in Brussels where the European Commission has been leading calls for companies to surrender their transmission assets as a way to bring more competition to the market.

MEPs have rejected a deal between the Commission and member states whereby large electricity producers could retain ownership over power distribution assets under strict conditions. Parliament is pushing for full ownership separation as the 'only option' for EU electricity market liberalisation. 

Despite its current opposition to the idea, the French government will eventually support 'ownership unbundling' in a "diplomatic manoeuvre" designed to protect price regulation, argues Charles Beigbéder, the CEO of Poweo, a firm competing on the French energy market, in an interview with EurActiv France.

Energy ministers from the 27 member states are meeting today (6 June) in an attempt to reach a compromise over plans to force more competition onto EU energy markets - otherwise they risk delaying any decision until 2010.

EU regulators launched a formal investigation against GDF on Thursday (22 May) just as Brussels and Paris are engaged in intense negotiations over the liberalisation of energy markets.

As the EU embarks on a third wave of energy liberalisation, some voices are warning that the gas sector must be treated with extra caution as the current proposals are causing tensions with Europe's largest supplier, Russia.

A Franco-German alternative to the Commission's electricity market liberalisation proposal was rejected by a narrow margin yesterday (6 May) during a key vote in Parliament's Industry Committee. MEPs also voted against a Commission substitute plan to put in place a strict regulatory regime policed by an Independent System Operator (ISO).

A compromise deal is taking shape in Brussels that could see France and Germany win a six-year delay in opening their energy markets to full competition, according to Alejo Vidal-Quadras, one of the leading MEPs on the dossier.

Dominique Maillard, head of the French electricity network operator RTE, explains why he believes splitting up energy firms is unnecessary in France. He spoke to EurActiv.fr just days after German energy giant E.ON stunned Europe by offering to sell off its electricity transmission network.

The European Commission has won an important victory in its crusade against former energy monopolies when German energy giant E.ON offered to sell-off its high voltage electricity grid to settle ongoing EU antitrust inquiries.

France, Germany and six other member states have submitted proposals outlining a 'third option' for energy liberalisation. The full document, seen by EurActiv, argues that the Commission's proposals to unbundle vertically-integrated energy firms will not achieve their desired effect in terms of more grid investments and lower energy prices.

The Commission and the Portuguese Presidency have asked EU countries opposed to proposals on 'ownership unbundling' in the electricity and gas sector to come up with detailed alternatives, as energy ministers prepare for a potentially tense meeting on 3 December.

Commenting on the European Commission's third energy package, Philippe de Ladoucette, president of the 'Commission de régulation de l'énergie', the French energy regulator, says that he is in favour of an EU agency for cooperation between European energy regulators. He spoke to EurActiv France in an interview.

A new battle has begun over the next round of energy liberalisation. Commission proposals to complete the EU's internal market for gas and electricity are leaving France and Germany in a quandary, with EDF and E.ON facing either the dismantling of their transmission assets or tight regulatory restrictions.