Berlin, 17/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a speech delivered at the 8th Annual Energy Conference, organised in Berlin by the German daily, Handelsblatt, Loyola de Palacio reaffirmed the Commission's determination to present to the European Council in Stockholm new proposals for the liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets. Liberalisation under way, she said, must be completed by new proposals with a view to completing a true single market by the year 2005.
Regarding the matter of accelerating the timetable (opening to competition of all non-domestic customers by 2003 for electricity and by 2004 for gas), Ms de Palacio made it clear that the future Commission proposals should take five key elements into account: - the operators' commercial interests should be fully separated from those of the producers, requiring the strengthening of the unbundling requirements of the gas and electricity directives; - public service provisions need to be re-examined in the best interests of the consumers; - fair access to the network can only be achieved through effective regulation provided by independent regulatory authorities in all Member States; - cross-border trade in electricity, which only amounts today to 8% of total EU production, should be significantly promoted through appropriate mechanisms, mainly regulatory instruments for cross-border tarification and congestion management. With reference to the results of the Florence Forum on electricity, she stressed that the Commission could not accept the proposals developed there in favour of a provisional tarification system, because of its potential trade distortive effects, and that the results obtained so far through the Florence Forum and Madrid Forum (gas) must be completed with Community legislation. The physical constraints impeding cross-border trade must be removed. The Commission plans to propose a mechanism for consultation between stakeholders with a view to defining a plan for making up the shortcomings of the interconnector infrastructure.