The member nations of the European Union have rejected plans from Brussels to split up the production and distribution divisions of vertically integrated energy companies, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
EU officials want to force vertically integrated power firms to divest either their upstream or midstream businesses in order to improve network assess for companies that do not own transmission infrastructure.
However, the groundbreaking proposal has been fundamentally rejected with France coming out as one of the most staunch opponents of the suggestion.
Brussels is concerned that companies that control both production and transmission assets hold too dominant market positions and that, conversely, those without transmission facilities are denied full assess to markets.
Despite the decisive rejection of full-scale disassociation, EU members did say that they were open to a separation process at the management level.