Brussels, 19/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Invited to speak before the European Parliament's Committee on Industry and Energy on the liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets and the role that competition policy could play in accelerating the process, Commissioner Mario Monti stressed on Tuesday that European rules of competition could certainly deal with certain inadequacies but that it was not the most adequate instrument. Making an assessment of the degree of openness of the markets in question, Commissioner Monti recalled that 30% of electricity demand and 20% of gas had initially been opened up to competition, compared to 40% and 30% respectively today. Some Member States have applied the minimum level of liberalisation demanded by the Directives of 96 (electricity) and 98 (gas), whereas others have opened up their markets more substantially, giving rise to an at times very disparate situation from one Member State to the next. "Competition law has played its role in favour of the development of the single market", he said, alluding to the achievement of three objectives essential for the setting up of a truly competitive and integrated energy market: 1) free choice of suppliers: the Commission has to ensure that long-term supply contracts do not stand in the way of this freedom of choice abusively linking consumers and discouraging the entry of competitors; 2) plurality of supply: the Commission must remain vigilant so that former monopolies do not abuse their dominant positions to control the market. "All competition instruments have been mobilised", said Mario Monti: Article 81 (cartels) and 82 (abuse of a dominant position) of the Treaty, rules relating to company concentrations and rules governing the control of State aid. Examples at hand (EDF/EnBW, EnBW/Hidrocantabrico, Fiat/Italenergia/Montedison), the Commissioner thus stressed to what extent competition rules can ply an essential regulating role so as to avoid distortions to competition on the energy market, by preventing the constitution of dominant groups; 3) network access: the Commission is carefully analysing transport networks and connection capabilities so as to avoid any discrimination.
Monti concluded his statements stressing that implementation of Community law could remedy certain failings in the liberalisation of the gas and electricity sectors. Likewise, the "gas" and "electricity" directives for now only set minimum thresholds: "some only respect these thresholds, whereas others go beyond that, creating spectacular and worrying dissymmetries", he added. The Commissioner also placed emphasis on the need to review the directives that still allow Member states to adopt national measures as "put-offs" for the ambitious attempts by operators to locate beyond national borders. "The European Council of Barcelona will not be able to avoid" this debate, he declared, alluding to a consensus that the Commission expects of the Summit regarding market liberalisation. "We (the Commission: Ed.) expect qualitative measures, especially regulated access to networks and facilitation of cross-border transport", he went on, while stating that "national reservations must be overcome", and "paralysis avoided".
Answering questions from MEPs, the Commissioner told Bernhard Rapkay (German, Social-Democrat), who asked him what the Commission could do to speed-up market liberalisation, that one of the possibilities would be to refer to Article 86(3) of the Treaty (abuse of a dominant position). However, he "hopes that the Barcelona Summit will make concrete progress for this instrument not to be used". Claude Turmes (Luxembourg Green), for his part, was concerned at the still frequent existence of "national champions" in many Member States, stressing that only the United Kingdom, in a tradition of "fair play", had played the game of total liberalisation with, as consequence, the loss of its most powerful players. "There are two suppliers in Germany, but they defend a past monopoly in relation to other players (…), there is no longer, in any case, any separation of territories (…), It's already greater liberalisation than before", Monti replied. Dutch Liberal Elly Plooij van Gorsel asked Mr. Monti to what extent the Commission could enable consumers to have the choice between public and private suppliers, thereby referring to national aid that public companies could benefit from. Mr. Monti said that the Commission was vigilant and had, for example, initiated an enquiry into illegal aid the France's EDF may have benefited from. Finally praising the Commission for its veto over the GE/Honeywell merger, Peter Monbaur (German, EPP) asked Monti how national markets had to reorganise themselves to resist European or even world competition while respecting European rules. Mr. Monti recalled that the Regulation on mergers only prohibited mergers between companies in the sense that they created a dominant position.