Brussels, 20/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - As reported yesterday (EUROPE 9505), there will be fierce debate at the Council over the issue of ownership unbundling of generation/distribution and transport networks/grids in the EU's 3rd package of legislation on the single market in energy. Germany and France lead the opposition to the Commission's plans and have reaffirmed their commitment to fight the proposals. In an interview with German press agency DPA on Wednesday 19 September, the German Economy Ministry's secretary of state, Joachim Wuermeling, said that nine European countries, including Germany, were rejecting the ownership unbundling plans recommended by the Commission, but Germany favoured the alternative idea of creating independent systems operators (ISOs), vertically integrated groups which would continue to own their own grids but whose technical and commercial operations would be put under the charge of independent companies. The Commission says this has been working perfectly in Scotland where the National Grid has been managing the grids of two integrated companies, Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern Energy, in a wholly independent manner since 2005. Wuermeling said: 'For us, the Commission's proposals are going too far, because in the end, the whole operational side of grid ownership is transferred to a third party, which is hardly a reasonable option for the companies (Ed: vertically integrated groups).' Wuermeling said he wanted clarifications about the ISO option and said that it was 'very ambitious' to expect a final decision on the EU plans next year, as hinted by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs on Wednesday. There are similar noises from France, where an even stronger line is being taken. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that she would be doing every thing she could to oppose the Commission's plans, but she did not make any distinction between the two options put forward by the Commission. She added that France could garner support from within the member states to argue its case. Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovakia are already known to share the view of France and Germany. (eh)