Tutto sull’energia

di Riccardo Lala

Tutto ciò che riguarda l’energia sta divenendo di giorno in giorno più importante, non solamente per la politica, per le società e per le professioni, ma per qualunque cittadino, in qualunque momento della sua vita.Il buco dell’ozono e la desertificazione, i conflitti geopolitici e le lotte ambientalistiche, sono tutti strettamente legati al ruolo dell’energia, alle sue modalità di produzione e di commercializzazione.
Per questo, anche il diritto dell’energia sta divenendo di giorno in giorno più importante e più attuale:

• liberalizzazione dei mercati;
• energie rinnovabili;
• risparmio energetico;
• competizione fra i gasdotti;
• peso politico delle aziende energetiche;
• fusioni e concentrazioni.

Per questi motivi, il diritto dell’energia, che, fino a qualche anno fa, costituiva una materia di interesse soltanto per alcuni, pochi, specialisti, è divenuto, negli ultimissimi tempi, una materia quasi di interesse generale, di cui tutti dovrebbero avere qualche nozione.

Questo “blog”, destinato a fare parte di un ambiente Web 2.0 & Wireless, dedicato, in parte, al diritto della concorrenza, si occupa, essenzialmente, di diritto europeo della concorrenza e di norme di diritto regolatorio, europeo e nazionale.

Tuttavia, dati i legami strettissimi che il diritto dell’energia ha con altre branche del diritto, dell’economia e della politica, questo blog ospiterà anche informative di attualità politica, economica e sociale, notizie dalle imprese, informative tecniche sulle nuove tecnologie ambientali.

Talks over Electricity and Gas liberalisation unfreeze

by Fabrizio Lala

(in coda un abstract in italiano)

(Bruxelles) In a meeting on Friday 6 June, EU energy ministers have agreed on a general approach for the third liberalisation package of gas and electricity markets (click here). Although the details of the agreement are not yet available, a compromise decision has been found, permitting to pacify contrasting positions.

Indeed, the "third package" of proposals for the opening of the gas and electricity sectors, presented by the European Commission on 19 September 2007, sparked a major controversy over the issue of "ownership unbundling", the break up of vertically integrated energy firms, controlling both the production and the transport of gas/electricity, by the sell off of transmission grids.

The staunchest opponents of the introduction of this new, radical unbundling (legal unbundling is now applying to the sector, meaning that transmission networks may still be owned by an integrated firm but need to be managed by a different legal entity) are France and Germany, home of the energy giants EDF and E.ON, followed by 6 other States, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Luxembourg, Latvia and the Slovak Republic.

An alternative proposal, known as the "third way", because it is the third proposal for a reorganisation of the transmission system after ownership unbundling, favoured by the Commission, and the ISO (Independent System Operator) system, another method proposed in the liberalisation package, has been tabled by these countries last February which, they argue, would guarantee a similar result without forcing energy firms to split their energy production and transmission businesses

The agreement that has been reached on 6 June is based on a compromise proposal elaborated jointly by the Commission and the outgoing Slovenian EU Presidency in May, allowing former state monopolies to retain ownership of their grids. However, grid management would be left to an independent transmission operator (ITO) with "effective decision-making rights" over day-to day activities such as network operation and maintenance.

A review clause will be part of the deal, for the Commission to evaluate the situation in the market two years after entry into force of the directive.

Ministers also discussed the role and powers of ACER, a new EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators to oversee the functioning of energy markets, notably with respect to cross-border cooperation between transmission system operators (TSOs). The agency should be independent from the Commission and member states, but its powers should not supersede those of national regulators, in contrast with the vote in Parliament's Industry (ITRE) Committee of 28 May, where a majority of MEPs favoured a stronger regulatory power for ACER.

The full Parliament will have its say on the agreement reached in the energy Council during plenary votes later this month and in July.

Up to this point, a slight majority of ITRE Committee MEPs consider ownership unbundling as the preferred option and remain sceptical of the ITO model, but the new compromise could change MEPs belief, also considering reactions to the agreement in countries such as the UK, in the driver's seat of ownership unbundling supporters. For instance, Malcolm Wicks, the UK's energy minister, commented enthusiastically that the agreement "will put downward pressure on prices, give consumers greater choice and level of service, and help bring on new clean, green energy".

Indeed, the decision of Friday 6 June is a new starting point to the opening of the European Energy Market.

Within this framework, it is somehow ironic that, just as the political pressure by France and Germany seems to start working, there are contrasting signals in the energy industry.

In fact, the German utility firm RWE AG has recently announced it will sell off its gas grid within two years to avoid further anti-trust actions by Brussels over suspected abuse of market dominance, following proceedings opened last May amidst concerns that RWE "may have abused its dominant position in the regional markets for the transport and wholesale supply of gas in North Rhine-Westphalia by raising rivals' costs and preventing (new) entrants from getting access to capacity on gas transport infrastructure in Germany".

This separation from the grid comes after E.ON had taken the same decision in order to terminate another antitrust probe from Brussels.

This kind of voluntary "ownership unbundling" showing that grid can be sold for a good reason, giving the impulse for an effective liberalisation of the sector, could weaken the strength of Franco-German political arguments.

The wave of antitrust investigations launched into the energy sector in February 2006 has given concrete results. As Commissioner Neelie Kroes said, "Competition enforcement is just one partner […] It dances not alone, but in step with regulation. Andris Piebalgs (Commissioner for Energy) and I myself are fully committed to just that."

Abstract in italiano

Trovato un accordo di massima tra i ministri dell'energia: l'unbundling non sarà l'unica opzione, e verrà dato spazio alla proposta franco-tedesca, la cosiddetta "third way"'. Il Parlamento Europeo voterà sulla questione in plenaria, ed entro Luglio ci dovrebbero essere dei risultati concreti (summit a Bruxelles il 20/06, voto in Plenaria il 7 Luglio). L'accordo che è stato trovato dovrebbe avere finalmente sbloccato il braccio di ferro fra i sostenitori dei “campioni nazionali” e quelli dell'unbundling.

Soddisfatti Tedeschi e Francesi, non fosse altro che perchè la Commissione ha appena reso noto che è in corso una procedura contro E.ON e GDF per un asserito cartello (market sharing - l'una non vendeva nel territorio dell'altra il gas trasportato da una pipeline di proprietà di entrambe, Megal).

D'altro lato, E.ON ha reso noto che venderà parte della sua rete di trasmissione in Germania, per mettere fine ad un altro contenzioso con la Commissione.

L'Autore di Shakti

Una breve presentazione dell'Autore del blog Shakti - Energy Watch

Fabrizio Lala, torinese di nascita, si è formato in Italia, ha perfezionato gli studi a Varsavia e a Bruxelles, dove attualmente vive e lavora.

Membro del Consiglio di Amministrazione di Alpina Srl, casa editrice torinese specializzata in pubblicazioni di interesse Europeo.

Corrispondente di Alpina a Bruxelles, Belgio.

Per Alpina ha pubblicato, nel 2007, il libro "The Internal Energy Market" in lingua inglese.
[Scarica gratuitamente il libro > (pdf 1 MB)]