Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The European Commission opened on 18 June 2013 a public consultation on the working methods and results achieved so far by the European Agency for the Cooperation of the Energy Regulator (ACER) , established in accordance with Regulation (EC) 713/2009 of 13 July 2009 . ACER was officially established in March 2011 and has its headquarters in Ljubljana, Slovenia . The background for the public consultation is further defined in the Commission's text for the public consultation: The Agency was established in order to fill in the regulatory gap, with the purpose to assist national regulatory authorities, and, if necessary to coordinate their actions, in order to enhance their cooperation at the EU level. ACER plays a central role in the development of EU-wide network and market rules with a view to create a single Internal Energy Market. It coordinates regional and cross-regional initiatives which favor market integration. The Agency monitors the work of European netw...

Statoil announced on 13 June 2013 that the company just concluded a 15-year contract for the supply of natural gas to the 600 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant owned by Stadtwerke Düsseldorf , with delivery starting in 2016. Viewed from a Norwegian and supplier perspective, one innovation of this contract is the indexation of the gas price to spot gas market . This has become a more common practice in the UK (e.g., through Britain's National Balancing Point) and to a certain extend in The Netherlands, but not yet in the most majority of the gas supply contracts, as the European Commission would have wished and called upon. So Norway is following the trend. In that, " the agreement builds on the liberalising gas, power and emissions markets and the available market price indices ." In other words, " it represents a new type of partnership in the German gas-to-power market ". See press release from Statoil (13.06.2013). Another important aspec...

The conclusions of the Council meeting  (TTE configuration - Energy) on the European Commission's Communication on " Making the internal energy market work "  ( COM(0663) final ) have been released and are available here . Detailed analysis to be published shortly on this blog .

On 29 May 2013 , the European Commission presented its recommendations to address the financial and economic situation in several Member States of the EU. Among the country-specific recommendations (CSR) presented by the European Commission on 29 May 2013, it is worth noting some of the measures proposed in the energy sector in exchange of granting delays for correcting national deficits. The package is based on the adoption of a new strategy for growth and jobs, Europe 2020, in 2010, which includes "guidelines" for Member States' economic and employment policies. This was supplemented in June 2012 by the adoption of a Compact for Growth and Jobs. The monitoring of Member States' performance was then operated through the Annual Growth Survey, the Alert Mechanism Report and in-depth reviews. The following paragraphs take the particular example of France . The recommendation for a Council Recommendation on France's 2013 national reform programme ( COM(...

The European Council met in Brussels on 22 May 2013 for discussing two hot topics, i.e. energy and tax fraud and evasion . The official text of the conclusions can be accessed here . An detailed analysis of the energy matters covered by the conclusions will be published shortly on this blog.  Photo credits : European Council 22 May 2013 - Family photo (c) The Council of the European Union

Alors que le Conseil Européen se réunit le 22 mai prochain, Jacques Delors , Martin Schultz , Sami Andoura , Jerzy Buzek et Antonio Vitorino publient une chronique commune dans le journal Le Monde daté du 20 mai 2013, chronique reprise sous divers formats dans d'autres journaux nationaux et européens.  Ses auteurs en appellent a un " véritable changement de société dans nos modes de production, de transport et de consommation d'énergie " afin d'assurer la transition énergétique . Ils y définissent une condition au succès de cette dernière: " y associer la société civile en Europe ", condition non explicitée. Plus fondamental, ils en appellent à la création d' une Communauté Européenne de l'Energie , dans la veine d'une autre communauté créée en 1951 autour du charbon et de l'acier. Toute chose devant être remise dans son contexte, essayons de comprendre où réside l'innovation de cette initiative. L'appel le plus nota...

On 22 May 2013 , the European Council will meet to discuss two main topics: energy and tax fraud and evasion. Communication has become more and more sophisticated around these meetings, and the Commission has definitely done its homeworks. First, President Barroso addressed a letter to the Members of the European Council , recalling the main points of the agenda for the meeting (see MEMO/13/416 dated 08/05/2013). Second, the Commission services published a background note on the two main issues to be discussed. A regards energy, the key elements that the Commission intends to push forward on the agenda of the European Council are presented in the note entitled  "Energy challenges and policy"   and are as follows: Differences and complementarities between the different energy mixes of the Member States which " all are facing similar challenges ". The Commission is of the view that the Member States "can tackle these challenges better together ...