Brussels, 18/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has pointed the finger against the lack of competition on the wholesale market in Bulgaria and the insufficient independence of the national energy regulatory authority.
On Sunday 17 February, Bulgaria was the scene of a wave of unprecedented demonstrations in some 20 cities in the country. The cause of this was the high electricity bills, whilst the three foreign energy companies which share the Bulgarian electricity market have recorded exceptional profits. The demonstrators, who blocked roads and junctions, threw missiles at public buildings and burnt their bills, also have their sights set on Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his centre-right government, which is dragging its feet over liberalising the national energy market, and whom they suspect of complicity with the energy suppliers. The national media report that whilst the average salary, the lowest of the whole of the EU, is less than €400 a month, electricity bills average more than €100 a month. The Bulgarian electricity distribution market, which was privatised in the first half of the 2000s, has been split into three regions, controlled by the Czech companies CEZ and Energo-Pro, and Austria's EVN.
The European Commission, which was called upon to react on Monday 18 February, reiterated the two problems identified, in the case of Bulgaria, in a progress report on the completion of the single energy market published in late 2012. On the one hand, the wholesale market is not fully liberalised. “There are quotas, there is a dominant player and there are no free prices. If there is a market, the wholesale price increase on electricity market can be much lower than the prices of commodities. At EU level, we have seen that if there is a liberalised market, the increase in electricity wholesale prices can be considerably less than those of the commodities used to produce this electricity”, explained the spokesperson to Commissioner Günther Oettinger, Marlene Holzner. The second issue identified is the fact that there is only partial independence of the national regulatory authority, which sets energy prices.
Bulgaria was brought before the Court of Justice by the European Commission on 24 January for its failure to transpose the two directives (gas and electricity) of the third liberalisation package in full. (EH/transl.fl)