The interinstitutional negotiations on the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) to combat market manipulation, a legislative initiative integrated into the reform of the electricity market (see EUROPE 13244/8), began on Thursday 21 September. The Council of the EU is still awaiting a position on the electricity market design (EMD) element (see EUROPE 13246/1).
The representatives of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament set out their respective positions on REMIT and agreed the mandate to begin technical discussions on the text in its entirety.
According to sources close to the matter, an agreement is expected to be reached quickly on many points, except with regard to the powers granted to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in terms of investigations and the reference to criminal sanctions.
The Council wants a “more balanced” role to be found between ACER and the national regulatory authorities, while the Parliament has expressed support for giving ACER the power to conduct investigations without the consent of the national regulators.
The Council is also questioning Parliament’s reference to criminal sanctions, since, according to the Member States, this is their responsibility.
The second point of disagreement at this stage concerns market participants resident or established in a third country.
The Parliament is of the view that these participants should register with the national regulatory authority of the Member State in which they have declared to have an office from which they carry out their main activities.
For the Council, these third-country market participants should not need to report having an office, but should appoint a representative in the Member State in which they are active and register with the national regulatory authority of that Member State.
According to a parliamentary source, this last point should be resolved without too much difficulty, since, for both the Parliament and the Council, it is a question of these participants proving their activity on EU territory.
The next political negotiation sessions are scheduled for 26 October and 16 November.
To view the four-column document: https://aeur.eu/f/8os (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)