EC Continues Drive Towards Open Energy Market

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

23 May 2006

European Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs has welcomed last Thursday’s decision of the European Court of Justice against Luxembourg over its failure to transpose the 2003 directive for the liberalisation of gas markets.

“This ruling confirms the commitment of the Commission to go ahead in building up a truly open internal market," observed Commissioner Piebalgs.

The transposition of the gas liberalisation directive should have been completed by 1st July 2004. Luxembourg could also be condemned soon for non-transposition of the electricity directive.

Luxembourg and Spain are the only two Member States that have failed to transpose the gas and electricity liberalisation directives.

The Green Paper for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy that the Commission adopted in March this year stresses the need for an open energy market in the European Union which will bring down prices, improve security of supply and boost competitiveness.

In its report on the internal market for electricity and gas, adopted in November 2005, the Commission identified the delay in applying the 2003 gas and electricity directives as one of the main causes of shortcomings in the European internal energy market.

On that occasion the Commission urged the Member States that had not yet transposed the Gas and Electricity directives to do so as quickly as possible.

In March this year, the Commission opened infringement procedures against 17 Member States for not opening their energy markets correctly.

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