Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The Department for Petroleum and Energy Law of the University of Oslo, the Center for Energy Law of the University of Gröningen and the Dutch Energy Law Association are pleased to inform you that the 27th European Energy Law Seminar will take place on 25 and 26 January 2016 . The location is the Hilton hotel, The Hague, The Netherlands . The programme is available and can be downloaded here . Topics covered include: Energy Union, protection of investments in energy infrastructures, latest EU case law, recent competition cases, offshore electricity grid, EU LNG strategy, smart metering, heat supply, internal energy market, tariff codes, COP21 results and climate change litigation. You can register online by clicking the link or complete the Registration Form and send it to seminar@never.nl . In case you may have any questions please contact seminar@never.nl or myself at catherine.banet@jus.uio.no . Early bird rates are available. I hope to see you in...

On 19 November 2015 I had the pleasure to present my views on the manner to regulate the circular economy and EU initiatives taken in the domain so far at the annual meeting of the Norwegian Steel Association .

The European Commission has announced on 13 November 2015 the opening of two in-depth investigations to assess the conformity of two measures adopted by the French government under EU state aid rules , namely: the forthcoming national capacity mechanism , and a specific tender procedure for the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Brittany.

The Norwegian Wind Energy Association ( Norwea ) is organising, together with the law firm Arntzen de Besche, its yearly fall conference on 25 November 2015.  The topic is "From Sweden and the EU to Norwegian wind energy policy" .  I am glad to hold a presentation on the possible effects of the new 2030 energy and climate targets for Norway and their legal force. Conference : " Fra Sverige og EU til norsk vindkraftpolitikk ", Norweas høst konferanse Time and place : 25 November 2015 , 12.00-16.30, Bygdøy allé 2, 0257 Oslo Programme : http://www.norwea.no/nyhetsarkiv/visning-nyheter/«fra-sverige-og-eu-til-norsk-vindkraftpolitikk»-programmet-for-hoestkonferansen-er-klart.aspx?Action=1&M=NewsV2&PID=1145 

Following its   decision of 9 October 2015 , the   French Council of State (Conseil d'Etat)   has lodged on 19 October a request for   preliminary ruling   to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) concerning the   conformity of the French capacity market mechanism to primary EU law , and in particular   Article 34 and 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) on free movement rules .  The question referred to the Court will be a new opportunity for the latter to pronounce itself on restrictions to the free movement of goods based on nationality for the purpose of security of energy supply . Parallels can be drawn with the 2014 decision of the Court in the Ålands Vindkraft case in relation to another certificates market (the French scheme being by design a trading scheme) - although based on another justification ground, i.e. environmental protection - (see my comment here ) and to refresh its case law in Campus Oil decision r...

The Swedish National Audit Office ( Riksrevisionen ) has just published a report on how Vattenfall performs in the energy transition . More precisely, the report looks at the role played by the Swedish state in terms of governance and concludes that " the government has not been sufficiently proactive in its governance of the company and has not followed up emission reductions ." Full report in Swedish available here . And English summary here . Source : "Vattenfall - konkurrenskraftigt och ledande i energiomställningen?" (RiR 2015:6) "Vattenfall - a competitive leader in energy transition?" (RiR 2015:6)

The 27th European Energy Law Seminar is organised on 25-26 January 2016 in The Hague, The Netherlands (hotel Hilton). On the programme:  Energy Union, protection of investments in energy infrastructures, latest EU case law, recent competition cases, offshore electricity grid, EU LNG strategy, smart metering, energy storage, heat supply, internal energy market, tariff codes, offshore safety regulation, electricity storage, transparency in supply contracts, retail energy markets. Full programme and registration details will be published shortly on the Dutch Energy Law Association NeVER website: http://www.never.nl Further information : NeVER secretariat secretariaat@never.nl or University of Oslo catherine.banet@jus.uio.no Organisation committee institutions : NeVER; University of Groningen, Centre of Energy Law; University of Oslo, Petroleum and Energy Law Department of the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law

The European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) holds its third annual conference in Aix-en-Provence , France on 2-3 September. The topic of the conference is: Effectiveness in Environmental Law . I will be presenting a paper on " Double burden in environmental regulation: the simultaneous application of a carbon tax and an emissions trading scheme to the offshore petroleum sector in Norway ." The presentation will be subject to a publication later this year.  The general programme of the conference can be accessed  here .

My latest article has been released as book chapter in SIMPLY 2014 - Scandinanvian Institute of Maritime Law. Below follow the full references: Catherine Banet, "Coexistence and interaction between offshore petroleum activities and the surrounding physical environment: area use and emissions regulation" in SIMPLY 2014, ISSN 0332-7868, pp.257-286 Summary: " The purpose of this article is to examine the manner in which offshore petroleum activities are regulated, with respect to their interaction with the surrounding environment, at two stages before petroleum products are transported and transformed to reach the market. First, it examines how the different economic, social and environmental interests related to the use of relevant sea areas are weighted against each other at the stage of opening areas for petroleum exploration. Second, it reviews the regulation of emissions from offshore petroleum activities into the environment during the production ph...

The European Commission published on 30 June 2015 a new call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for trans-European energy infrastructure projects on the list of Projects of Common Interest . The total allocated envelope is EUR550 million . 

Here is a link to today's decision from The Hague District Court in case Urgenda Foundation vs. the State of The Netherlands . The Court ruled that the Dutch state "must" take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in The Netherlands . The operative part of the decision states that: THE RULING The court: 5.1. orders the State to limit the joint volume of Dutch annual greenhouse gas emissions, or have them limited, so that this volume will have reduced by at least 25% at the end of 2020 compared to the level of the year 1990, as claimed by Urgenda , in so far as acting on its own behalf ; ...

Spørsmålet var: Hvordan bør Norge bidra til det globale grønne skiftet? Mitt svar: " Norge bør utvikle en offensiv diplomatisk strategi for det grønne skiftet – i samsvar med en klar og sammenhengende utenrikspolitikk innen miljø, petroleum og energi. ... " Les hele mitt svar i form av en artikkel i rapporten «Slik kan Norge gjøre en forskjell» , gitt ut av Norsk Klimastiftelse i juni 2015. Les resten av innlegget HER .

The question was : How shall Norway contribute to global energy transition ? My answer : " Norway should develop an ambitious diplomatic strategy for the energy transition - in accordance with a clear and coherent foreign policy within environmental protection , petroleum and energy . ... " Read my full  answer in the form of an article in the report " How can Norway make a difference" , which was released by the Norwegian Climate Foundation in June 2015 . Read the rest of my post HERE . (in Norwegian) If you are interested in a translation, please send me an e-mail.

  Norway and its EEA partners are working on the implementation of the 3rd Energy Package , which includes some complex competence issues with regard to the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) .   The conclusions from the 43rd EEA Council on Monday 18 May give a hint on the state of play of the negotiations. The relevant paragraphs are copied below.

In a tweet posted late Friday evening 15 May, the Vice President of the Commission in charge of Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic (picture), announced that he will reveal on Monday 19 May "the next phase" of the Energy Union Strategy , during a press conference scheduled at 12 a.m . Based on a preliminary presentation of his head of Cabinet this week, this next phase will concentrate on the Governance element of the Energy Union Strategy. The European Commission should launch the process of governance as well as the associated "EU tools" as called so far.

En sladdet versjon av Lovavdelingens vurdering fra 2011 av innlemmelse av ACER-forordningen i EØS-avtalen og forholdet til Grunnloven er blitt offentligjort og er tilgjengelig her .

Referat og presentasjoner fra seminaret som ble avholdt 6. mai 2015 er nå tilgjengelig på EnergiNorge sine nettsider her .   Dette inkluderer min presentasjon om "Deltagelse i prosjekter av felles europeisk interesse: kostnads- og inntektsallokering. Utviklingstrekk".

6. mai 2015 arrangerer Universitetet i Oslo, Nordisk institutt for sjørett, avdeling for petroleums- og energirett, UiO Energi og Energi Norge et seminar om   Energimarkedet i EØS-området – nye rettslige og politiske utviklingstrekk   Tid : kl. 9-13   Sted : Det norske vitenskapsakademi, Drammensveien 78, 0271 Oslo   Jeg skal selv innlede om "allokeringsmetoder ved deltagelse i energi-infrastrukturprosjekter av felles interesse" .   Program : her!  

The European Commission has sent today, 22 April 2015, a Statement of Objections to Gazprom for alleged abuse of dominant position on the Central and Eastern European gas supply market, contrary to EU antitrust rules. Investigations started in September 2012 and resulted in today's decision. Gazprom has now 12 weeks to answer the Statement of Objections.   The Commission is suspecting that: " Gazprom is breaking EU antitrust rules by pursuing an overall strategy to partition Central and Eastern European gas markets, for example by reducing its customers’ ability to resell the gas cross-border. This may have enabled Gazprom to charge unfair prices in certain Member States. Gazprom may also have abused its dominant market position by making the supply of gas dependent on obtaining unrelated commitments from wholesalers concerning gas transport infrastructure ." Further comments will be published on this blog in the coming days.   By then, see the press rele...

On 19 March 2015 , the European Council reached conclusions on the strategy for the Energy Union , newly presented by the European Commission on 25 February 2015  (see previous post and comments ). The text is a broad endorsement of the general policy lines contained in the strategy, with a slightly re-arranged priority order.

Below follows the part of the Conclusions dedicated to Energy Union as adopted by the heads of State and Government at the European Council on 19 March 2014 :  

In a recent decision adopted by the Council on 2 March 2015 , the United Kingdom has been authorised to apply reduced levels of taxation on gas oil and unleaded petrol which are supplied as motor fuel to road vehicles .   The measure, proposed by the UK, examined by the European Commission and backed by the Council, aims to restore the balance for local fuels consumers faced with higher prices than the rest of the UK consumers . As explained in the decision, " the price difference is due to additional per unit costs induced by the geographic location of those areas, their low population numbers and the delivery of relatively low volumes of fuel ."   This decision is taken in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of Directive 2003/96/EC on the taxation of energy products and electricity . Under that provision, certain criteria for the granting of exemption are set, such as conformity with the functioning of the internal market, the need to ensure fair comp...

  "Etter flere måneder med mye spekulasjoner, avveininger og forhandlinger la endelig EU-kommisjonen frem sin rammestrategi om energiunion 25. februar 2015. Mange forventet et visjonært verk. Det endte med en pragmatisk tiltakspakke som nå utgjør Kommisjonens arbeidsprogram for de fem neste årene. Selv om EØS/EFTA-landene ikke er omfattet av EUs felles energi- og klimapolitikk som sådan, er realiteten at den nye strategien er av stor betydning for Norge." Les hele min kommentar på Energi og Klima Nettmagasinet HER .

  The Louisiana State University (LSU) Journal of Energy Law & Resources is organising a conference on comparative offshore oil and gas law regimes between the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States . The conference will take place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA , on 12-13 March 2015 . It is structured around four topics : licensing systems , third party access to offshore infrastructure , license (lease) terms , and environmental, health and safety .   I am glad to be associated to this project and will be presenting the Norwegian licensing regime . See you in Baton Rouge?   More information on the event on the LSU website: http://www1.law.lsu.edu/cle/seminars/jelr/ And  brochure : http://host.law.lsu.edu/lsucle/15JELR.pdf    

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has released two interative maps based on the data collected from its atlases for potential CO 2 storage sites (CO 2 Atlases): one is an interative CO 2 Atlas, so-called "CO 2 FactMap" , check here ; the other one present general data and called "CO 2 StoryMap" , check here .

The specially appointed Commission on Productivity ( Produktivitetskommisjonen in Norwegian) has submitted its first report to the Norwegian Finance Minister on 10 February 2015 .   The first report looks at the basis for Growth and Welfare ( Produktivitet – grunnlag for vekst og velferd   , NOU 2015:1) and covers all sectors including petroleum and energy. The full document is available here (in Norwegian).   Website of the Productivity Commission: http://produktivitetskommisjonen.no/   A thorough comment of the Commission's report will be published on this blog in the coming days.

  The European Commission announced on 4 February 2015 that it has officially launched work on the Energy Union , which was one of the initiatives promoted by President Juncker in his Political Guidelines .   Here is the link to the Commission's press release: IP/15/4103 .   For comments on the earlier versions of the concept of Energy Union, see previous post here  (paragraph on "resilient Energy Union").   Picture: Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Energy Union (c) European Union, 2015

The European Commission has released this month the final report it had ordered to a Group of consultants on the review of Directive 2009/31/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (so-called CCS Directive ).   The report is available here . It will be summarised and its conclusions commented on this blog in a forthcoming post.   The purpose of the report was twofold:   " This report presents the consultant’s work in supporting the Commission in their review of the CCS Directive. The work under this contract consists of two main parts. The first part is to effectively carry out an interim evaluation of Directive 2009/31/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Directive), including consideration of the Directive under the new Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT) . The second part of the work is more forward-looking and focuses on preparing a set of recommendations for the future o...