The European Commission decided on Thursday 25 July to refer Belgium to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to properly implement EU electricity market rules (Electricity Directive 2009/72/EC) and EU gas market rules (Gas Directive 2009/73/EC).
Belgium did not correctly transposed certain rules relating to the powers of the national regulatory authority. More precisely, the Belgian regulator does not have the power to take binding decisions with regard to electricity and gas companies and can only submit proposals to the government to this effect.
Similarly, the conditions for connection to the electricity and gas networks are set by the government rather than by the regulatory authority, as required by Union law.
Finally, Belgian law does not ensure that transmission system operators effectively control the entire electricity or gas network for which they are responsible, so they may not be able to ensure full non-discriminatory access to the network for electricity or gas suppliers.
It was in October 2014 that the Commission decided to open infringement proceedings against Belgium by sending it a letter of formal notice, followed in February 2016 by a reasoned opinion. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)