EU’s central regulator would take powers from national bodies under Commission plans.
National energy regulators will have to hand over wholesale market trading data to the EU’s central regulator under plans due to be approved by the European Commission next week.
Günther Oettinger (pictured), the European commissioner for energy, has drafted new rules to tackle market abuse in the energy sector. The legislation, which will be published on 8 December, is designed to provide confidence in the face of the growing trend to trade energy across national borders.
As companies take increasing advantage of the liberalisation of the sector over the past decade, the Commission wants to provide reassurance to consumers, businesses and public authorities about the integrity of wholesale energy markets. It is responding to concerns that cross-border transactions will make it harder for national regulators to detect and police possible abuses.
The Commission says that the energy sector should have its own rules on market abuse, to close any gaps that are not covered by the existing rules for financial products. So it is proposing that all national energy regulators should transfer market data to the Agency for the Co-operation of Energy Regulators (ACER), to permit a pan-European view. The proposed rules also ban insider trading and market manipulation.
The market monitoring that national energy regulators and ACER carry out needs to be reinforced by effective investigation of suspected market abuse and effective sanctions when it is identified, the Commission also believes.
Member states will therefore be asked to grant national regulators the necessary powers. A co-ordinating role is envisaged for ACER when national regulators work together to investigate alleged abuse.
The Commission is also proposing a new investigating group of national regulators, chaired by the agency but made up of representatives of national authorities.
Transparent markets, the Commission says, will also encourage business to invest in new generating capacity and infrastructure.
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