eurealist.co.uk

Just for those who still like to believe the EU is somehow democratic because the Commission is only after all a glorified civil service at the behest of the member states through the Council.

Senior EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Brussels will table a piece of legislation which would force large energy companies to sell off part of their business in order to fully separate production and distribution.

The so-called “ownership unbundling” is seen by Brussels as key to boosting competition and bringing down consumer prices.

According to the summit conclusions, EU leaders approved “effective separation of supply and production activities from network operations, based on independently run and adequately regulated network operation systems which guarantee equal and open access to transport infrastructures and independence of decisions on investment in infrastructure.”

They also agreed that any move towards unbundling should take account of the specific characteristics of the gas and electricity sectors and of national and regional markets.

However the member states argue they have not committed themselves to any specific legal model and “The summit did not call for ownership unbundling,” it would appear that although some nation states including Britian would like to proceed with this others including France and Germany are set against the idea.

Meanwhile, the commission seems to be taking full advantage of the EU states’ wrangling, with its officials saying Brussels “is not going to give up the idea [of ownership unbundling] just because discussion has not finished yet.”

I rather like that “just because the discussion is not finished yet” has the ring of we are not going to wait until you have given your consent but are going to force the issue.

One diplomat told EUobserver in response to the commission’s legal plans, “it was not a surprising move,” given that the EU’s executive arm has been clear about its preference all along.