The commissioner commented that the network monopolies held by certain European giants were undermining efforts towards secure, sustainable and affordable energy supplies across the region.
Ms Kroes said that an enquiry into the European energy sector had revealed that: The current system creates mixed messages and conflicts of interest, resulting in a kind of ‘investment paralysis.’ This situation is simply untenable, damaging Europe’s competitiveness and security of supply.
Ms Kroes added that the European Commission had concluded that the best way to deal with these issues was to go ahead with the full structural unbundling of European utilities.
The unbundling proposals would involve separating the transmission and distribution activities of European utilities in order to reduce the control that they have over Europe’s energy network. This has been an ongoing focus for the commission, which is working to take the network out of the hands of state monopolies to ensure that it is run in such a way that allows rival companies to access the market.
Ms Kroes stated that ownership unbundling is the best way to deliver non-discrimination, to encourage new investment in power plants and gas import infrastructure, and to give incentives to network companies themselves to reinforce the European electricity and gas grids. The commissioner concluded: We have to look seriously and urgently at an improved legal framework.
Despite the European Commission’s support of utility unbundling, EU leaders are less enthusiastic about the proposals. According to Eux.tv, those governments with state-owned utilities are not in favor of the scheme as they fear it would reduce national energy security.
France in particular is against the scheme, and, although the French government was recently assured that the transmission and distribution activities of Electricite de France and Gaz de France would not have to be separated, this latest announcement seems to overturn that decision.
