National energy regulators of France, Belgium and Holland have launched a joint consultation on regional market integration.
In a joint statement the regulators Creg, DTe and CRE said: “Integration of electricity markets can improve liquidity, security of supply and price stability for the three countries. The objective of regional market integration is maximum availability of cross-border capacity and efficient cross border trade, to the benefit of Belgian, Dutch and French consumers.”
The consultation will cover a wide range of issues such as cross-border trading, market transparency, market power and regulatory cooperation.
Relevant parties are requested to submit comments and such like by 5 September to help the regulators define a common approach for progressive regional integration for October 2005. Implementation is expected to begin in January 2006.