Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Electricity market: Industry Committee backs full unbundling and rejects “third option”

/noticias.info/ The Industry Committee rejected on Tuesday the so-called "third option" for the internal market in electricity. Instead, in a close first-reading vote, the committee supported the full ownership unbundling model and also deleted provisions for an Independent System Operator alternative.

Choosing among several proposals on unbundling – the idea of separating the production and transmission of energy – MEPs in the committee supported rapporteur Eluned Morgan (PES, UK) in opting for the most far-reaching: full ownership unbundling. This would involve forbidding companies or countries from simultaneously exercising control over electricity generation or supply and "directly or indirectly exercising control over a transmission system operator" and vice versa.

The committee rejected, by 22 votes in favour to 26 against with three abstentions, a “third option” amendment which set out an alternative - backed by eight Member States including France and Germany - which supporters said would give countries the opportunity "to further liberalise their markets without having to resort to ownership unbundling". This proposal offered a choice to Member States between ownership unbundling, independent system operators and "legal unbundling" (where a vertically integrated undertaking could retain its network assets but ensure "an effective separation of interests" through rules on assets, equipment, staff, identity and compliance control).

The committee also rejected the second option: the European Commission, while making clear that full ownership unbundling was its "preferred option", had proposed that companies could alternatively hand over control of their transmission assets (and over applicable investment and commercial decisions) to an "Independent System Operator". Committee members, however, adopted an amendment scrapping this alternative, which Ms Morgan had argued would imply "bureaucracy and costly regulatory control".

The report as amended was adopted by 31 in favour to 17 against with 2 abstentions. The full Parliament will vote on the proposals at the 16-19 June plenary session.

A more complete press release also covering the other major points adopted in the first reading report will be published in due course. notas_de_prensa_archivo