European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana (left) speaks with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, October 13, 2008. The EU's 27 foreign ministers will hold talks with their Belarus counterpart Sergei Martynov on Monday. This would be the first high level contact since the EU put a ban on such meetings in 2004.
Photo: AP
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EU Lets Gazprom into Distrib Network
The 27 EU energy ministers approved proposals for the liberalization of the electricity and natural gas markets at a meeting in Luxembourg on Friday. Unlike previously, the new requirements allow the same company to control the production and transport of gas. The ban on third-country access to EU energy assets has also been lifted, so that the issue can be decided by individual countries. The proposals must still be approved by the European Parliament.
The so-called third energy package is much milder than the proposal presented by the European Commission in September 2007, which strictly separated the production of oil, gas or electricity from their transportation. All the large European energy companies opposed that idea. It would also have severely limited Gazprom’s opportunities for expansion in Europe. The document was amended under the pressure of France and Germany (which receive 15 and 40 percent of their natural gas from Russia, respectively).
An important point in the new agreement is the so-called division of activities, under which an energy producer can buy assets in an EU country and own a distribution network in the same country, but the network has to have an independent operator. Energy companies will not have to sell their distribution companies in neighboring companies if production and distribution are carried out by different divisions of the company. Energy producers will not be able to buy companies that only distribute energy, such as in The Netherlands. Foreign companied operating in the European Union will be subject to the same rules as local companies. An energy company from a third country will need the permission of one EU and European Commission member to operate. Individual countries will be able to decide whether or not to allow foreign companies access to their energy assets.
The new proposals should be approved by the European Parliament by the end of the year or beginning of next year.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 14, 2008
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