Manufacturing the EU Energy Markets. The Current Dynamics of Regulatory Practice

This chapter aims to analysis the new dynamics at work in EU energy regulation. Since the publication of the European Commission’s ‘Sector Inquiry Report’ in January 2007, European energy companies have felt the cold wind of competition law - many for the first time. In addition, national competition authorities (NCAs) have been actively pursuing abusive market practices - sometimes making innovative use of competition law in the process. Certain energy giants have agreed to unbundle their transmission networks - even when their national governments opposed the inclusion of ownership unbundling in the draft ‘Third Package’ of electricity and gas legislation. In parallel, the Third Package envisages the creation of a new regulatory agency - ACER - to co-ordinate technical crossborder regulatory issues in the internal market. So who will be in the driving seat in the next decade - and will co-ordinated regulatory powers be the preferred approach to market design? Will regulatory rules co-exist alongside competition based controls or will the latter gradually supersede the former? This chapter will examine these critical issues.Antitrust, Third Legislative Package, ACER, European Union

Editorial Preface

This the Editorial Preface to the book "A Force of Energy", focusing on the academic career and accomplishments of Emeritus Professor Martha Roggenkamp

Editorial Preface

This the Editorial Preface to the book "A Force of Energy", focusing on the academic career and accomplishments of Emeritus Professor Martha Roggenkamp

Shift, not drift : towards active demand response and beyond

Each semester the THINK project publishes two research reports based on topics proposed by the European Commission.Topic 11QM-01-13-151-EN-CQM-01-13-151-EN-NNowadays, the European electricity systems are evolving towards a generation mix that is more decentralised, less predictable and less dispatchable to operate. In this context, additional flexibility is expected to be provided by the demand side. Thus, how to engage consumers to participate in active demand response is becoming a pressing issue. This THINK report assesses how to realise this shift towards active consumers using a consumer-centred approach and does so from the perspective of contracts. On this basis, we recommend measures to be undertaken in the short-term, during the transition and in the long term, respectively, to achieve a full take-off of active demand response. The THINK project (2010-2013) is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, Strategic Energy Technology Plan. (Call FP7-ENERGY-2009-2, Grant Agreement no: 249736). Coordinator: Prof. Jean-Michel Glachant and Prof. Leonardo Meeus, Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute

How to make the EU Energy Platform an effective emergency tool. Policy Contribution Issue n˚10/22 | June 2022.

Uncertainty about the supply of Russian natural gas is causing extremely high and volatile European gas and electricity prices. European Union countries may struggle to import sufficient volumes of natural gas at reasonable prices. During the summer, the imperatives are to fill storage sites sufficiently in a coordinated manner and to organise sufficient import volumes to replace a substantial share of gas that might no longer come from Russia. Coordination is essential to ensure that disruptions during difficult winter months do not lead to a break-up of the EU internal gas market with potentially serious political repercussions. One part of the EU response is establishment of an EU Energy Platform for the purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen. This aims to pool demand to leverage the bloc’s economic clout, international outreach to reliable partners and efficient use of existing infrastructure. EU leaders have backed the plan but it has not yet been translated into a feasible scheme. The platform should be developed into an effective emergency tool to safeguard gas supply in case Russian flows stop. We detail two complementary proposals to achieve this. First, there should be EU-wide auctioning of remuneration for filling storage sites in specific regions. Companies would remain responsible for all stages of the value chain, benefitting from remuneration and in return offering the market operator some control over how this gas is released during winter months. Second, EU demand for additional LNG quantities, and the sourcing of this on international markets, should be coordinated through a platform, creating a transparent market for these volumes. These mechanisms would resolve the prevention paradox and prevent free-riding. If EU countries buy gas jointly, they will find it much easier to let markets allocate scarce volumes across borders in case of a complete stop to Russian supplies. . This would reduce the risk of energy market fragmentation, as well as the subsequent energy security, economic and political impacts of a shock that would hit member states very differently

Energy policy ideas for the next European Commission : from targets to investments

Energy (and climate) will be high on the agenda of the next European Commission. EU citizens and industry expect a supply of energy that is affordable, secure, and sustainable. The National Energy and Climate Plans suggest that there is a widening gap between what Member States are willing to commit to at the national level, and what they think the European Union should achieve collectively for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. We run the same risk for the EU targets for clean tech manufacturing, and for critical raw materials extraction, processing and recycling. To address the gap, the next European Commission could: make Member States more accountable to live up to their national investment potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy; promote multilateral cooperation (and solidarity) among Member States for network infrastructure, resource adequacy and flexibility; strengthen the management of our global dependencies; and reinforce the EU institutional setup. Ideas to achieve these objectives include: an EU Energy and Climate Plan with investment progress tracking and recommendations for Member States; the modernization and Europeanization of capacity mechanisms; an upgraded European Resource Adequacy Assessment exercise beyond electricity and adequacy; a top-down EU networks vision; more EU funding and more powers for EU entities to allocate costs among Member States; more capacity building for national administrations; a reinforced ACER; a merger of the ENTSOs and ENNOH (and the EU DSO Entity) into a EU Energy Networks Entity; the creation of an EU Energy Agency (and an EU framework for national energy agencies). At FSR, we think these ideas merit a more thorough discussion, and we look forward to contributing to that discussion in the coming months

Between crises and decarbonisation : realigning EU climate and energy policy for the new ‘state of the world'

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 compounded an already difficult policy landscape characterised by rising energy prices, international supply chains’ disruptions, growing greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbating geopolitical tensions. This combination of crises ushers in a new ‘state of the world’, where energy security is a much more pressing concern, and calls for an intervention in the short term to address the social and economic consequences of the surge in the cost of energy. In this context, support must be targeted and mute efficient price signals in energy markets to the minimum possible extent. In the medium and longer term, the transition towards a low-carbon economy must be accelerated, duly considering the significant efforts needed for a major reorganisation of the energy supply to European citizens and firms. The scale of the acceleration required questions the ability of the EU and its Member States to make it happen. Ensuring the feasibility of the investments in new infrastructures, the procurement of sufficient raw materials and manufactured components, and the deployment of a skilled and abundant workforce is fundamental. The acceleration of the transition questions the adequacy of the existing European electricity market design as well, which must be carefully assessed and possibly amended in order to be future-proof. It questions, finally, the existing European governance for energy, which must evolve to support a long-term collaborative decision-making process and deal with a multi-vector and highly integrated energy system at multiple levels. This policy paper, which summaries a joint research initiative between the FSR and the European Climate Foundation, addresses these issues in three sections: 1) what are the key characteristics of the new state of the world? 2) what are the policy priorities in the near and longer term? 3) what are the process and governance to make it work

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored