By Chris Jones & Anne-France White - 10th January 2007
Neelie Kroes has announced new measures to speed up the liberalisation of the EU energy sector, but has shied away from excessive criticism of member states.
An enquiry launched by the competition commissioner into the current state of market liberalisation concludes that “consumers and businesses are losing out because of inefficient and expensive gas and electricity markets”.
“This report will make uncomfortable reading for many energy companies,” Kroes said.
“Underinvestment is rife, especially in networks, and customers are suffering as a result.”
Particular problems flagged up include high levels of market concentration, a lack of access to infrastructure for new companies, and collusion between incumbent operators to share markets.
The report also points to faulty integration between member states’ markets, as well as an absence of transparently available market integration.
But Kroes has toned down some of her criticism of national capitals, following strong opposition to breaking up state-owned energy companies in many countries.
For instance, the report does not build on her earlier call to split up large companies like E.On or Electricite de France in order to separate suppliers from distributors.
Instead, the paper remains vague, saying it will “pursue follow up action in individual cases under the competition rules and act to improve the regulatory framework for energy liberalisation”.
The about-face could be partly due to the fact that the commission needs the support of all 27 member states to push through its ambitious plans for a common energy policy at the March EU summit.
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