Brussels, 03/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The new regulatory framework for the internal market in energy, set by the 3rd energy liberalisation package adopted in June 2009, which builds on the directives on common rules for the natural gas and electricity markets, the regulations on network access conditions for cross-border exchanges in electricity and on access conditions to natural gas transport networks, and on the regulation setting up the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), came into force on Thursday 3 March.
Though all 27 member states ought by this date to have incorporated into their national laws arrangements to separate generation/supply activities from the transport activities of the vertically integrated energy operators within their borders, this separation due to be effective from 2012, none met the deadline of this Thursday. While talking tough and threatening sanctions, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger showed great flexibility at the Energy Council of 28 February, giving member states until the autumn to transpose Community law into national law. It is only in the autumn that he will decide whether or not to begin infringement proceedings.
The European Commission says that seven countries - Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Portugal - are expected to notify the Commission of the arrangements required “in the coming weeks”. Nine others - Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom - are expected to follow suit in the summer. The others, including Belgium, Spain and Hungary, currently chairing the Council, are well behind. (E.H./transl.rt)