Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The Florence School of Regulation of the European University Institute is organizing from 23 to 28 May 2013 its new edition (3rd one) of the Summer School on Energy Policy and EU Law . Among the topics covered this year are: infrastructure and sustainability, security of supply, wholesale energy markets and competition, retail energy markets and competition . I will myself cover the interaction between RES promotion and the free movement of goods . See you in Florence? Deadline for registration is 15 April 2013 . See full programme here . Website of the programme.

The European Commission informed on 11 December 2012 that it is suspecting the operator of the Romanian power exchange, OPCOM S.A., of anti-competitive behaviour . The Commission is also investigating the Transmission System Operator (TSO) CNTEE Transelectrica S.A., OPCOM's parent company .  The Commission fears that OPCOM is abusing its dominant position , in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) , resulting in discrimination against companies on the grounds of nationality or place establishment. The main requirement which concerns the Commission is an obligation, for all participants to the spot markets on the power exchange, to hold a VAT registration number in Romania . In practice, this obliges the interested market participants to establish themselves in Romania in order to trade on the power exchange. Because this requirement represents an additional burden for non-Romanian traders, it may affect trade between Member States...

The "Conclusions on Renewable Energy" adopted by the energy formation of the Council on 3 December 2012 leaves a mixed impression. It is a mix of endorsement  for some of the European Commission's proposals, notably on internal market, need for improvement of national support schemes, infrastructure and consumer protection, coherence with carbon market, and at the same time a puzzle of careful formula as to what will be , should be , can be and may be done after detailed assessment . The most notable is probably the reference to a post-2020 framework for EU renewable energy policy , the assessment of which will first be the task of the European Commission. The European Commission have already expressed its views on the future role that renewable energy sources (RES) in its communication "Renewable Energy: a major player in the European energy market" adopted on 6 June 2012. As an answer to this communication, the EU energy ministers set a series...

The European legislator gets a step closer to the adoption of the regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure which is meant to boost the strategic infrastructures for the realisation of the internal energy market . The Permanent Representatives Committee gathering the Permanent Representatives to the Council have backed today, 30 November 2012, the agreement reached on 27 November 2012 with the European Parliament. Read the press release from the Council here . A detailed analysis will be posted on this blog.

Next week, on 3 December 2012 , the energy ministers of the EU Member States will hold a Council meeting. The following topics are on the agenda: 1 - adoption of Council conclusions on renewable energy . Based on the Communication "Renewable Energy: a major player in the European energy market" adopted in June 2012, the Council conclusions should set out as priorities:  * the opening of the internal electricity market , and notably: securing market arrangements for the integration of an increasing number of renewable electricity generators; assessing market distortions at national level "in close cooperation" with the Commission services * better market integration of RES , including non-binding guidance from the Commission on support schemes reform, and the phase-out of environmentally and economically harmful subsidies. * cooperation and trade , which cover, on the first hand an extended use of the cooperation mechanisms and with the active help...

On Monday 26 November 2012 opened the 18th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC) and the 8th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Doha, Qatar. The conference will last from 26 November to 7 December, the High Level Segment starting on 4 December. The website of COP18/CMP8 hosted by Qatar is http://www.cop18.qa/  The central issues of the conference will be reviewed on this blog. But before that, let's watch an excellent video from the Norwegian Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) , which  summarizes 20 years of climate change negotiations . Watch the video by clicking on the picture below or here . "The history of climate change negotiations in 83 seconds"

I would like to share on this blog a nice  infographic on the Carbon Management Industry  kindly sent by the London School on Business and Finance (LSBF) , MBA in Carbon Management . The infographic looks at three issues: the carbon management sector in general (with a focus on renewable energy); the job market ; the business opportunities . The infographic focuses on renewable energies and related investments as this has been the fast growing sector in carbon management during the last two decades. Thanks for sharing this, LSBF!

Directive 2012/27/EU  of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency has been published in today's official journal of the EU (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p.1). It amends Directive 2009/125/EC establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products and Directive   2010/30/EU on indication by labelling and standard of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy related-products), and repeals Directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration and Directive 2006/32/EC on energy end-use efficiency and energy services. The text of the new directive is available HERE , and will be commented shortly on this blog.

The European Commission has announced the adoption of a new communication on the status of the internal energy market for 15 November 2012 .  According to the official information released, the Communication will: - assess the state of the internal energy market , with the politically endorsed goal of its completion by 2014 ; - identify the main forthcoming challenges ; - propose actions to improve the effective application of the third energy package ; - provide updated information on the European electricity and gas market covering the 27 Member States, and, also of particular interest, a description of Member States' investments in energy infrastructure (energy infrastructures having focused much of the efforts of the EU executive during the last two years). Watch the press conference on Thursday 15 on EbS. Picture credits: (C) European Union, 2012.

The European Commission adopted on 8 November 2012 a notice of initiation of an anti-subsidy proceeding related to solar panel and related key components imports from China (published in  OJ C 340 of 8.11.2012, p.13 ). China is the world's leader manufacturer of solar panels (around 65%), 80% of the Chinese production being allegedly exported to the EU market (approx. 21 billion Euros). The notice of initiation opens officially the phase of investigation of the case by the European Commission. The latter has assessed that there was enough convincing elements in the complaint brought on 26 September 2012 by the EU industry association ProSun to initiative an investigation pursuant to Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Commission (so-called "basic Regulation"). An anti-dumping investigation has been launched on 6 September 2012 in the same case base...

The European Commission presented on 26 October 2012 proposals to revise the legislation applicable to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects . 25 years of application: time to revise The EIA Directive set rules for the assessment of the environmental effects of public and private projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment (Art. 1.1, IEA Directive). "Projects" are considered to be both the execution of construction works, installations or schemes, as well as other types of interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape, including extraction of mineral resources (Art. 1.2(a), EIA Directive). The projects subject to EIA are defined in Annexes I and II of the Directive, and include among others the extractive industry, the energy industry, the production and processing of metals, the chemical industry, the processing of metals. The original EIA Directive was adopted in 1985 (Council Directive 8...

The Guardian has published an interesting article on the new energy strategy defended by one of Saudi Arabia representatives, Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, at the occasion of the Global Economic Symposium in Brazil (16-17 October 2012). The official target is to become " 100% powered by renewable and low-carbon forms of energy . " Under this scenario, Saudi's oil reserves could primarily serve for the manufacturing of plastics and polymers , which is a noticeable statement. The article by The Guardian depicts the good energy features of Saudia Arabia in terms of renewables (in particular solar energy, see article from PV magazine here ), but also investments in nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) as unavoidable parts of the solution for low carbon economy. Depleted oil and gas fields could serve as CCS storage sites. Worth a read. Full article available  HERE .  See also the " Reassessing Renewable Energies " webpage of the Global ...

The well-known RES LEGAL database has on 15 October 2012 updated its website at the same time that it got full support from the European Commission. It has therefore became the RES LEGAL Europe Database , the " legal sources on renewable energy ". It was formerly hosted by the Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety It is highly valuable that the new database now covers EFTA and "some" accession countries in addition to the EU 27 Member States. 33 countries in total are now included. It covers legal sources related to renewables within the sectors of  electricity, heating & cooling, and transport . Such initiatives definitely contribute to an increased transparency in access to legal information as a preliminary source of information. The database allows comparing national support schemes, grid access issues and national policies. Congratulations!

Melding til Stortinget om "EØS-avtalen og Norges øvrige avtaler med EU. Sentrale prioriteringer of virkemidler i norsk europapolitikk" ( Meld. St. 5 (2012-2013) ) ble lagt frem 12. oktober 2012. Meldingen understreker hvor viktig EØS-avtalen er for Norge, gjennomgår handlingsrommet for Norge i avtalene med EU og har samtidig som formål å "videreutvikle det tette utenrikspolitiske samarbeidet med EU." I kapittel 6 identifiseres  de sentrale norske prioriteringene for Norges europapolitikken "i tiden fremover" : - norsk næringsliv og verdiskaping i det indre markedet - arbeidsliv og velfred - energi - miljø, klima og mattryghet - forsknings- og utdanningssamarbeid - distrikts- og regionalpolitikk - markedsadgang for norsk sjømat Dette er de områdene som Regjeringen vil fokusere særlig på. Regjeringen peker også på at det årlige arbeidsprogrammet for EU/EØS-saker vil utvikle seg som "et strategisk verktøy i europapolitikken...

The Industry and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament voted on 9 October 2012 on the Commission's proposal for a regulation on safety of ofsshore oil and gas prospection, exploration and production activities ( COM(2011) 688 final , dated 27.10.2011).  Objective of the proposal This Commission's proposal aims to answer several concerns: increasing level of activities offshore; the scale of recent accidents which occurred offshore, and in particular in reaction to the accident in the Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater Horizon accident, USA, in 2010 (11 people killed); and before that Montara, Australia in 2009; Usumacinta, Mexico in 2007 (22 killed) as referred to by the Commission). A gap analysis was realised just after the Deepwater Horizon accident followed by the adoption of a Communication "Facing the challenge of the safety of offshore oil and gas activities" (COM(2010 560 final).  Based on these assessments, the Commission estimates that th...

Austria and Bulgaria have on 27 September 2012 completed the list of EU Member States that have received a Reasoned Opinion from the European Commission for non- or incomplete transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources . The sending of a reasoned opinion is the second stage in the infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU , and the last one before the Commission decides to refer the Member State to the Court. The press release from the Commission ( MEMO/12/708 ) does not precise which provisions of the directive the Commission estimates not being transposed . Nevertheless, it seems clear that the Commission is eager to use its powers to ensure a timely and correct implementation of the directive by the Member States in order to meet the common target of 20% of renewables in the overall energy consumption in 2020. Indeed, except Denmark, all the other Member States have received some form of infringement notice by the C...

Au lendemain de la Conférence environnementale qui s'est tenue les 14 et 15 septembre dernier, et à la veille du grand débat sur la transition énergétique annoncé pour la fin de l'année par le nouveau gouvernement, les cabinets d'avocats SIMONSEN et GOSSEMENT vous invitent à un petit-déjeuner conférence sur le thème: "L'actualité juridique de l'éolien: regards croisés" Lieu : Maison du Barreau, Paris Date : jeudi 4 octobre 2012 Horaire : accueil à 8h30, conférence de 9h à 12h . Conférence gratuite mais inscription préalable obligatoire par e-mail à: cb@simonsenlaw.no Le nombre de places est très limité afin de permettre des échanges nourris. Les invitations seront contrôlées à l'entrée.

La Norvège fait face aux défis de la modernisation de son réseau électrique et de son adaptation aux nouveaux besoins en flexibilité et interopérabilité. Le cabinet d'avocats SIMONSEN, Oslo, en collaboration avec la Chambre de Commerce Franco-Norvégienne (CCFN), vous invite à un petit déjeuner autour de ce thème. Date et heure: mercredi 3 octobre 2012 , de 8h30 à 10h . Lieu : Chambre de Commerce de Paris , Bourse de commerce - 2, rue de Viarmes - 75 001 Paris Vous pouvez télécharger l'invitation ici . Inscription : event@ccfn.no  

The European Commission will hold on 2 October 2012 a Conference on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF),  where representatives from EU institutions and Member States will discuss the CEF. The CEF aims to finance priority projects of common interest for the EU in the area of transport, energy and  telecommunications/ICT . In October 2011, the Commission decided to dedicate EUR 50 billion to the initiative, including EUR 9.1 billion for energy projects (press release IP/11/1200 ). The CEF is an instrument directly financed by the EU budget (EU's Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, presentaed on 29 June 2011) and defined in the proposal for a regulation establishing the CFI (COM(2011) 665, of 19.10.2011). Further on, private sector initiatives piloted by the EU could also be envisaged under " EU project bonds ".  These targeted investments are based on a list of priority projects , so-called Projects of Common Interests (CPI) . The list of CPI that ...

The French government holds today a two day-conference, so-called "Conférence environnementale" on the future of its environmental policy . Check the agenda and follow-up the debates on the website of the ministry ( http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/ ) or   here . This blog will comments on some of the outcomes.

Regjeringen presenterer i dag en første skisse av CO2-kompensasjonsordningen, såkalt "carbon leakage" under EU-terminologi . Denne bloggen har flere ganger kommentert utviklingen av CO2-kompensasjonsordningen på EU-nivået, og siste i forhold til endring til EU-statsstøtte reglene og endring til sektor og sub-sektor listen . Nå har tiden kommet for Norge å gjennomføre EU-regelverk (mht. EØS-avtalens forpliktelser) som følger av både reglene om EUs kvotesystemet (Direktiv 2003/87/EF) og tildeling av statsstøtte i form av kompensasjon under nye retningslinjer ( European Commission Communication on guidelines on certain state aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post-2012 , COM(2012) 3230 final), publisert i juni 2012. I sin pressemelding ( Nr. 113/12 , 11.09.2012), legger den norske regjeringen vekt på at: - Ordningen har som formål å unngå at utslipp av klimagasser flyttes til andre land i stedet for å kuttes ...

The European Commission adopted on 17 August 2012 a decision amending the list of sectors and sub-sectors deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage . Based on the procedures laid down in Commission Decisions 2010/2/EU and 2011/278/EU adopted in relation to the implementation of Directive 2003/87/EC establishing the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Commission has the power to amend the list of the encompassed sectors and subsectors based on an analytical report . The sectors and subsectors selected must comply with the criteria defined in Article 10(a).14-17 of Directive 2003/87/EC . Following this assessment, the following subsectors have been added to the list : - "voiles, webs, nats, mattresses, boards and other articles of glass fibres, except woven fabrics" - "slag wool, rock wool and similar mineral wools and mixtures thereof, inbulk, sheets or rolls" The Commission Decision also amends the content of NACE 4-level doce 2614 ...

The European Commission , Directorate General for Competition, is currently  consulting Member States and stakeholders on the review of the Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and environmental support measures in the General Block Exemption Regulation (EC) No. 800/2008 (GBER) .  The public consultation forms part of a wider reform initiated by the Commission in 2012 . On 8 May 2012, the European Commission adopted a Communication on "EU State Aid Modernisation (SAM)" (COM(2012) 209 final). The purpose of the Communication is to pursue the continuous reform of state aids, and in particular: (1) foster growth in a strengthened, dynamic and competitive internal market (by reference to the Europe 2020 growth strategy); (2) focus enforcement on cases with the biggest impact on the internal market based on an ex-ante scrutiny, while reinforcing the Member States cooperation in state aid enforcement  ; (3) procedures , with streamlin...

As indicated on this blog earlier in the summer, I defended publicly my Ph.D thesis on 20 August 2012. The defense was successful, and I would like to thank all the persons who attended both the trial lecture and the defense. An updated version of the thesis will be published in book form by the end of the year. Do not hesitate to send me an e-mail if you want to be updated on the publication date. Photo credits: (c) Hanne Sofie Logstein

On Monday 20 August 2012 , I will defend publicly my PhD thesis at the law faculty of the University of Oslo, Norway (from 10.30). The topic of the thesis is: " Tradable Green Certificates Schemes under EU Law The influence of EU law on national support schemes for renewable electricity generation ." An updated version of the thesis will be published by the end of the year in book form. The public defence will be preceded by a trial lecture (9.15-10.00) on the same day on the following imposed topic: " The national and Treaty regulations of the newly established Swedish-Norwegian market in tradable green certificates and potential legal problems with its implementation ." More information : website of the University of Oslo.