Memorandum by Mr Giles Chichester, MEP
ENERGY
1. Has there been sufficient unbundling of
gas and electricity markets in all Member States?
No. Even if the Second Directives were fully
transposed and implemented it will be necessary to go beyond legal
unbundling to remove obvious conflict of interests from common
ownership.
2. Is there agreement on the fundamental importance
of a genuine single market to support a Common European strategy
for energy?
There is broad support for a liberalised single
market, but room for different opinions on what this actually
means based on recognition that national markets remain the normal
reality with some regional markets such as Nordic Pool or UK.
There are also a range of views on what a Common European Strategy
for energy actually means.
3. What are the implications for the single
market of the Commission's commitments on climate change?
The answer depends on how transparent policy
instruments are. In particular the ETS needs to be revised and
a realistic price for CO2 established as well as clearly understood
criteria for RES support mechanisms be they financial or regulatory.
Market mechanisms are the best way to pursue EU policy objectives
on climate change.
4. Should there be a single EU energy regulator?
No or certainly not yet. The existing ERG structure
has room for improvement in terms of maintaining common standards
and sharing best practice but it should be allowed to develop
by trial and error before turning to the drastic step of having
a single regulator. There are signs of an interesting compromise
proposal on this issue to come from the Commission this autumn.
27 June 2007
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