Brussels, 17/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of Auditors says that, from 2016, the Commission should open infringement proceedings against EU member states so that the goal of completion of the internal energy market may be achieved.
That is the first recommendation made by the Court in a special report on the energy market (No 16/2015) published on Tuesday 15 December. The auditors examined case studies in six member states - Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Sweden. They identify avenues to be explored to explain the reasons behind the failure of one of the EU's main goals, set in 2014: completion of an internal market for energy.
This failure means that current energy infrastructure in Europe still does not provide effective security of energy supply, despite financial support from the EU budget (€3.7 billion between 2007 and 2013, to which will be added close to €7.4 billion between 2014 and 2020).
The auditors believe that explanations lie in the problems affecting the implementation of the EU's legal framework. Hence, the first recommendation to the Commission to initiate any necessary infringement procedures from next year.
A further recommendation relates to national regulatory authorities (NRAs). Member states should make sure that their NRAs are independent and do not face restrictions to the scope of their role. The NRAs should have sufficient resources available for their activities, including allowing them to participate fully in EU-level cooperation activities. At the same time, the Commission should assure that the agency for the cooperation of energy regulators (ACER) has the necessary powers to obtain all the information it needs from the member states.
Then, the Commission is called on to promote widespread development of transparent trading mechanisms for both gas and electricity. The Commission should also expedite the process of comitology, with a view to securing approval of the electricity network codes by the end of 2015 and consider establishing electricity interconnection objectives based on market needs rather than on fixed national production capacity. It should consider whether there are alternatives to the extensive construction of gas pipelines, such as the installation of strategically placed LNG terminals.
In terms of infrastructure, the Commission should, first and foremost, carry out an in-depth assessment of needs and identify cross-border energy infrastructure that is not being used to its full potential to support the internal energy market, either because it is tied up in long-term bilateral contracts not allowing third party access, or because its technical capacities, such as reverse flows for gas, are not being used. It should thereafter investigate how best to use it for the benefit of the internal energy market and explore whether regional transmission system operators (TSOs) should be set up.
Lastly, with regard to funding, once the in-depth needs assessment has been carried out, the Commission should refine its planning procedures and in particular the prioritisation and funding of projects of common interest (PCIs). Through legislative proposals it should be cast in tablets of stone that only infrastructure projects ensuring the proper and continuous functioning of the energy market in the member states will be funded from the EU budget. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)