Brussels, 26/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Stockholm Summit did not set a date for the liberalisation of gas and electricity markets, but gave a clear signal that markets should be opened up to freer competition "as soon as possible", said Jonathan Faull, European Commission spokesman. He was speaking on Monday after the major battle undertaken by France for the Summit not to pledge for total liberalisation in 2005 (see EUROPE of 25 March, p.1, and 24 March, p.5). "The Commission's proposal is on the table, and the Council or the European Parliament may change the dates if they so wish", stressed Giolles Gantelet, spokesman for Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. He recalled that such was the case of the directive on the liberalisation of rail, when the Parliament modified the Council compromise to set liberalisation for 2008. It is therefore not necessary to amend the Commission's proposal at this time, as hinted by Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson during the Summit.
Invited to take a stance on the problem of public enterprise that uses its monopoly situation to rival private companies on third markets, a point raised by Spain and Austria during the summit, the spokesman recalled that the European Commission does not need to give its position on the private or public nature of companies in the context of liberalisation, since, he stressed, "the company ownership regime is a matter for Member States to decide".
On the other hand, however, the Commission must ensure, as it is invited to do in the conclusions of the Summit, that the treaty provisions (and mainly Articles 85 and 86 on abuse of dominant positions) are fully observed and that the implementation (of decisions on market opening) does not entail competition distortion. This was what the Commission did in the case of the joint takeover of the Germany electricity company Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) by French EDF and German OEW, recalled Amélia Torres, spokesperson for the Competition Commissioner. "If France respects the current legislation that provides for 30% market opening, as seems to be the case, and if it respects the competition rules, the Commission has no reason to force it to go beyond this", she stressed.