Last updated on : 2009/12/01
Timetable for the opening up of the electricity and gas markets:
to all professionals on 1 July 2004;
to all individuals on 1 July 2007.
Independence of system operators (art. 10 & 15 Electricity Dir., art. 9 & 13 Gas Dir.): to guarantee non-discriminatory network access, it is necessary to unbundle network activity (natural monopoly) from other activities of vertically integrated companies (production, supply). The legal and functional separation should be effective at the latest:
on 1 July 2004 for transmission operators;
on 1 July 2007 for distribution operators.
Third-party access to storage facilities : in addition to third-party access to systems, the gas directive (art. 19) also provides for regulated or negotiated access to storage facilities.
Reinforcement of the role of regulatory authorities : in order to ensure non-discrimination, effective competition and running of the market, particularly with regard to third-party access to systems, the minimum powers of the regulatory authorities are defined exactly (art. 23 Electricity Dir., art. 25 Gas Dir.) :
If the approval of rates (transmission, distribution, LNG and storage facilities) and access conditions to systems and storage facilities constitute their main mission, they are also responsible for monitoring and, if necessary, for intervening in the following fields:
Management of interconnections (allocation of capacities) and of possible congestion, and more generally, la conformity of the activity of system operators with regard to directives;
Account unbundling of transmission and distribution activities (recourse to audits, for example);
Assessment of the level of transparency and competition on their respective markets.
The regulatory authorities must also be in a position to settle disagreements swiftly and effectively between system operators and their users and to impose penalties upon companies who do not respect their instructions. The regulatory authorities must approve the standards for use and rule on exemptions from normal access rules for new investments in the systems.
Creation of a committee of European regulatory authorities in the European Commission (art. 13 Electricity regulation, art. 30 Gas Dir.), with the following objectives :
Encourage coordination between national regulators;
Consolidate the internal energy market;
Ensure the uniform application in all Member States of the directives' provisions.
Measures to safeguard security of supply (mainly electricity), public service obligations and protection of consumers (art. 3 Gas Dir. and Electricity Dir.).
Eligible consumers
In the electricity sector, consumers, other than private households, are eligible and may change supplier at liberty.
art. 22 law of 10/02/2000 | decree. No. 2004-597 of 23/06/2004
In the gas sector, all consumers, with the exception of private households, as soon as all or part of the gas consumed is intended for non-residential use.
art. 3 law of 03/01/2003 | Decree no. 2003-302 of 01/04/2003 relative to the eligibility of consumers of natural gas
Non-discriminatory access to public electricity grids, natural gas facilities, LNG facilities including facilities providing ancillary services and storage facilities of natural gas is provided by operators of public electricity grids and operators using natural gas facilities and systems. It is guaranteed by the application of prices for the use of these systems, grids and facilities (save for storage facilities), which is proposed by the regulatory authority to ministers for the economy and energy who have a right of objection within a period of two months.
art.4 and 23 law of 10/02/2000 | art.2 and 7 law of 03/01/2003
The terms and conditions of access to storage capacities, especially its price, are negotiated between parties in transparent and non-discriminatory terms.
art.30-3 law of 03/01/2003
Supply
In the electricity sector, the minister for energy delivers a generation licence (tacit for facilities < 4.5 MW, express above).
If the objectives of the long term programme adopted by the government to plan generation development are not met, the public authorities may launch a call for tenders implemented by CRE.
art. 6 to 9 law of 10/02/2000.
Moreover, the purchase for resale activity is free, on condition that a declaration is submitted to the minister for energy. The purchase for resale activity of non-nationalised distributors (NNDs) is restricted to supplying customers in their service area.
art.22 law of 10/02/2000 in its drafting of the law of 03/01/2003
In the gas sector, the activity of supplying natural gas is subject to a licence issued by the minister for energy.
art.5-I law of 03/01/2003
Account unbundling :
Operators carrying on several activities within the same company must establish, in their internal accounts, a separate account for the management of transmission, distribution or natural gas storage systems. Their internal accounts must distinguish supply to eligible customers from supply to non-eligible customers and identify, if necessary, the income earned from the ownership of public distribution systems so as to avoid cross-subsidies and distortions of competition.
art.25 law of 10/02/2000, as amended by art.33 law of 09/08/2004 | art.8 law of 03/01/2003, as amended by art.34 of the law of 09/08/2004
Institution of an independent authority in the sector, the CRE
is responsible for regulating the electricity and natural gas markets.
art.28 law of 10/02/2000