On 4 June 2010, Europe's energy regulators (ERGEG) presented their conclusions, following a public consultation, on their strategy for delivering a more integrated European energy market.

Overall 'Vision'

A number of bodies are involved in a variety of different initiatives aimed at achieving a single energy market, but ERGEG considers there to be a gap between this 'bottom up' approach, and the new 'top down' measures introduced in the third package. To bridge this gap, ERGEG has suggested that an overall 'vision' be developed to ensure the work plans of the Commission, Member States, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSOs), the Regional Initiatives and other bodies are all complementary and will facilitate progress towards a common and clearly defined goal. This suggestion received strong support along with the proposal that the Commission take a lead coordinating role and that the current EU stakeholder for a (Madrid and Florence) be used as the platform for developing the vision.

Regional Initiatives

A key issue to be addressed in this strategic vision is the role the Regional Initiatives will take in the new environment being transitioned into, based on the provisions of the third package. The third package envisages extensive cooperation between regulators and network operators and the creation of new EU-wide network codes, all of which require coordination across national boundaries. ERGEG suggests that the Regional Initiatives should form the basis for this co-ordination but that the voluntary approach adopted to date should be replaced with a more mandatory approach to accelerate market integration. Member States will have an important role to play in establishing a legally binding cross-border regulatory framework, and there was support for ERGEG's suggestion that Member States should therefore become more involved in the Regional Initiatives.

The European Commission and ERGEG will co-host a conference in July focusing on this strategy and the future work of the Regional Initiatives.

To view the full conclusions paper, please click here

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The original publication date for this article was 10/06/2010.