The European Commission is to set up a European Regulators’ Group to assist the further development of an internal market for gas and electricity. The group will consist of European independent national energy regulatory authorities and will ‘harness their technical expertise and national experiences’ to provide advice to the Commission as it works on liberalising the European energy market.
The move was hailed by UK energy regulator Ofgem as an important step towards achieving a fully liberalised gas and electricity market throughout Europe.
The new body is intended to contribute to effective opening up of the market by promoting consistent approaches to market regulation throughout the Union.
The group managing committee will comprise the heads of the national regulators responsible for overseeing the day-to-day interpretation and application of the provisions of the EU electricity and gas directive and electricity cross-border regulation. Reporting will be through the Commission to the European Parliament on an annual basis.
