Brussels, 13/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 13 June the European Commission announced its decision to launch an inquiry into competition in gas and electricity, retail banking and business insurance. The questionnaires in all Member States will examine fears about whether competition is working in these markets. In carrying out the sector inquiries, the Commission will work closely with market participants and Member State authorities. The inquiries will be complementary to the Commission's parallel initiatives launched a few years ago with directives such as 2003/54/EC for electricity and 2003/55/EC for gas. The results of the inquiries will be published in the autumn and publication of the complete reports in 2006.
Both gas and electricity prices have risen and forward prices indicate further price rises in the future. In addition, new market entry has been limited, and market concentration remains very high. In the gas sector, 1200 questionnaires will be sent to all economic actors. The objective is to study provision activities and those with a real European dimension. In the electricity sector, requests for information (1900 questionnaires) will focus on price tendencies in retail electricity companies. This also requires analysis of how national markets are integrating, and the functioning of cross-border interconnectors.
Directorate General Transport and Energy will carry out a similar exercise on regulatory aspects of the European directives in the gas and electricity markets. It will send a report to the Council at the beginning of next year.
In financial services, the Commission is seeking to ensure that EU consumers benefit from an integrated and competitive financial market. Although reports will initially focus on credit and debit cards, it does not at this stage want to rule out any banking products or services. Several reasons are putting a brake on European integration of the retail banking sector: sharp price disparities from Member State to Member State for certain services; high costs for changing service providers; market entry conditions. These factors can reduce consumer choice and lead to a certain “consumer captivity”.
The Commission is launching a detailed study into the business insurance sector. It is currently not ruling out any products or services from the sector. It considers that this market is not working as well as it should. Certain agreements between insurance groups go beyond what facilitates competition and could be revised. Insurance companies in effect benefit from exemption to certain European rules on the banning of agreements and cartels. Answers to questionnaires are expected from insurance, reassurance, intermediaries and other providers of insurance products.