The Interplay Between European Merger Control Law And The Liberalisation Of European Electricity Natural Gas And Petroleum Markets

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2020 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 2,2, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften), language: English, abstract: This doctoral thesis examines how European merger control law is applied to the energy sector and to which extent its application may facilitate the liberalisation of the electricity, natural gas and petroleum industries so that only those concentrations will be cleared that honour the principles of the liberalisation directives. In 2007, the Commission emphasized that a real internal European energy market is essential to meet Europe’s three energy objectives. These were for example competitiveness to cut costs for citizens and undertakings to foster energy efficiency and investment, sustainability including emissions trading, and security of supply with high standards of public service obligations. The EU issued three pre-liberalisation directives since the 1990s. Dissatisfied with the existing monopolistic structures, in Germany through demarcation and exclusive concession agreements for the supply of electricity and natural gas, which were until 1998 exempted from the cartel prohibition provision, and the prevalence of exclusive rights on the energy markets, the Commission triggered infringement proceedings against four Member States. The CJEU confirmed that the Commission has the power to abolish monopoly rights under certain circumstances and the rulings had the effect of convincing the member states to enter into negotiations for an opening up of energy markets owing to the internal market energy liberalization directives 1996 / 1998 / 2003 / 2009 / 2019. The 2nd liberalisation package of 2003 brought a widening of market opening and acceleration of pace of market opening to a greater number of eligible customers and an increase in the provisions on management and legal unbundling. The 3rd energy package of 2009 addressed ownership unbundling of key-infrastructure ownership and energy wholesale and retail supply consisting of three regulations and two directives. The 4th liberalization package inter alia consists of a new IEMD2019 and IGMD2019 and addresses energy efficiency and rules on good governance in the Energy Union. A brief analysis of the economic implications of concentrations is followed by an assessment of the evolution of European merger control law since 1989, 1997 and 2004. Then, the theoretical findings are contrasted to the results of recent merger proceedings in the energy sector.

In the course of energy liberalisation, electricity and natural gas contracts have been separated from physical delivery, and these contracts are now traded as commodities in multilateral trading facilities. Although designed to render energy trading standardised and efficient, this system raises serious questions as to whether existing regulatory and antitrust provisions are sufficient to address market abuses that cause imbalances in demand and supply. The European Union’s (EU’s) Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT), adopted to combat such market manipulation, is still lacking in significant case law to bolster its effectiveness. Addressing this gap, this invaluable book provides the first in-depth analysis of market manipulation in the energy sector, offering a deeply informed understanding of the new anti-manipulation rules and their implementation and enforcement. Focusing on practices that perpetrators employ to manipulate electricity and natural gas markets and the applicability of anti-manipulation rules to combat such practices, the analysis examines such issues and topics as the following: – factors and circumstances that determine when and what market misconduct can be subject to enforcement; – the European Commission’s criteria to determine whether a particular market is susceptible to regulation; – jurisdiction of REMIT and the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) with respect to the prohibitions of insider trading in financial wholesale energy markets; – to what extent anti-manipulation rules and EU competition law may be applied concurrently; and – types of physical and financial instruments that market participants have employed in devising their manipulative schemes. Because market manipulation is rather new in the EU context but has been prohibited and prosecuted under US law for over a century, much of the case law analysis is from the United States and greatly clarifies how anti-manipulation rules may be enforced. A concluding chapter offers policy recommendations to mitigate legal uncertainties arising from REMIT. Energy market participants, such as energy producers, wholesale suppliers, traders, transmission system operators and their counsel, and legal practitioners in the field will welcome this book’s extensive legal analysis and its clear demarcation of the objectives that REMIT seeks to accomplish with respect to energy market liberalisation.

This book presents the first in-depth analysis of the export of the EU electricity acquis, through the imposition of an EU-type regional electricity market (REM) in SEE within the enlargement process. Among other germane issues, the author discusses the following: the suitability of the European model of electricity markets’ liberalization for economies in transition; the use of the Public Services Obligations (PSO) to address the impact of electricity markets liberalization; the use of regulated prices and measures for granting priority rights for cross-border capacity allocation as PSOs; the Court of Justice judgement in Federutility on the sustainability of states’ protection of their different types of customers, including the large businesses; the Energy Community as a step towards a Pan-European Energy Community; the effect of simultaneous national electricity markets liberalization and cross-border regional integration of national electricity markets; and, the interplay between liberalization policy and reforms and the regulatory tools available to address their impact on provision of public services. The author’s proposed rethinking of the public services obligation offers new views on using this tool more effectively and proposes possibilities for its practical implementation through measures such as energy efficiency, allocation of interconnectors’ capacity, transparency, addressing the affordability issue and the protection of vulnerable customers. The book is remarkable for its clear analysis of the policy lessons arising from the export of the idea of liberalized energy markets, and will be welcomed by practitioners, officials, academics and others in energy law and policy for its informative and forward-looking overview of the national and cross-border reforms in the Energy Community framework.

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Environmental Policy, grade: 1,0, University of Copenhagen, course: International Law & Economics, language: English, abstract: The European Union aspires to be a frontrunner in the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Its energy policy aims at reconciling climate and environmental objectives, with concerns over security of supply and competitive markets. The restructuring and modernisation of the European energy system is driven by a continuous liberalisation regime in conjunction with the promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. The implications of this strategy are manifold, whereof the modernisation and upgrade of the electricity grid is increasingly recognized to be the quintessential prerequisite to meet tomorrow's energy challenges. The emergence of the Smart Grid has enthused industry and policy makers alike, as it has the potential to be the enabler for a future low-carbon electricity system by facilitating demand-side efficiency, increasing the shares of renewables and distributed energy generation, and enabling electrification of transport. The European Commission views the Smart Grid as the backbone of Europe's future energy infrastructure advancing the development of green energy, while making the system more stable through information and communication technologies. The deployment of Smart Grid implies a technological transformation that will have a deep impact on the whole electricity value chain. The thesis explores the effects of this transition process with regard to energy market liberalisation, Smart Grid deployment and energy market integration. We scrutinize the relationship of these three variables, by considering Smart Grids as a function of liberalisation, liberalisation as a function of Smart Grid deployment and last but not least market integration as a function of liberalisation and Smart Grid deployment. [...]

In this important book, notable European experts in the energy field provide valuable perspectives on the principal issues raised by the liberalisation of the electricity and natural gas markets in the EU. Lawyers, business people, regulators, and policymakers who deal with matters and issues in the energy, natural resources, and environmental fields will find the details and insights presented here of great value.

This third volume of EU Energy Law and Policy Issues presents an overview of some of the most recent developments taking place in the EU energy sector at a time when the Third Energy Package is likely to be, or has been, implemented in the EU Member States. In this respect, the reader will find a number of contributions which offer detailed and critical views on some of the main issues tackled by the Third Energy Package. Aside from this, the relationship between sector-specific regulation and the rules of general competition law is examined in the second section of the book. This section also contains particular contributions on access regimes in gas and electricity markets, as well as an innovating analysis on the methods for allocating allowances under the EU emissions trading scheme and the interaction of such methods with EU State aid rules. Just like the previous volumes of the book, the third section offers a deep insight into the external aspects of EU energy policy. Accordingly, the role of the Lisbon Treaty in promoting EU energy policy in the international arena is scrutinized, in addition to the most recent evolutions on the topical issue of the Energy Charter Treaty. This section is completed with a daring contribution about the need to adopt a comprehensive theory of legal harmonization between the EU and third partners, which is presented using the specific case of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue. Some fundamental issues regarding the environmental aspects of EU energy policy undergo an in-depth study in the final section of the book. Not only is the legal regime of energy efficiency in energy-related products examined, but also the issue of carbon constraining policies under WTO law. Finally, the electricity industry's viewpoint on the 2020 targets rounds off this third volume with judicious comments. (Series: ELRF Collection - Vol. 3)

Theses on any subject submitted by the academic libraries in the UK and Ireland.