Brussels, 26/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) energy committee gave its backing, though introducing a few improvements on Thursday 26 May, to the draft regulation, tabled by the Commission in December of last year, on transparency and integrity in energy wholesale markets to prevent abuse and manipulation. MEPs say that all large volume contracts must be included and minimum penalties put in place for those who flout the rules.
The report by Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (ALDE, Germany) confirms the role of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) which, to enforce the new rules, will gather and monitor data on energy transactions. It will then forward this information to national authorities, which will be responsible for investigation and enforcement. The committee calls for harmonised penalties, with common standards in order to avoid a situation where those who breach the regulation move to the least severe member state. Sanctions should considerably exceed the real or potential gains and damage caused to consumers, say MEPs.
On the registration of market participants, the energy committee calls for each member state to have a licence system or a register of participants. In cases where a country is not part of the EU licensing system, national authorities should apply the compulsory EU registration system. The committee is against the exemption, proposed by the Commission in its original text, of all supply contracts to traders who are final consumers, no matter their level of consumption. For MEPs all large volume contracts should be treated as wholesale and, thus, be subject to the rules. Smaller traders would be exempt. The precise cut-off point will be decided at a later stage by the Commission through a “delegated act”, which would have to be endorsed by Parliament.
Negotiations between the Council and Parliament will begin in June, and the plenary session vote will take place in September. (E.H./transl.rt)