Investing into transport infrastructures.

Where to focus?

The 12th Florence Intermodal Forum organised by the Transport Area of the Florence School of Regulation in collaboration with European Commission – DG MOVE, will gather European and national- regulators, public transport operators, industry representatives and academics for a discussion on the challenges and enablers in funding TEN-T projects.

More specifically, forum participants will tackle the following issues: building the trans-European network for a Single Market, sustainable and smart transport as well as new challenges the sector is facing, especially challenges of resilience.

Background

The first ‘Community Guidelines’ for the development of the trans-European network were adopted in July 1996. These guidelines incorporated a ‘Master Plan’, detailing the connection of major national road, rail and waterway networks between Member States, with the aim of relieving major European bottlenecks by addressing issues such as capacity restrictions and cross-border incompatibility.

The guidelines were amended in 1999 to include rules for the granting of EC and EU funding of Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects. These TEN-T guidelines incorporated a series of flagship ‘Priority Projects’ and allocated priority status according to their strategic importance and/or significant scale.

In 2009, the EC took the decision to launch a TEN-T policy review, with a view to further developing TEN-T policy ahead of the (then upcoming) budgetary period, 2014 to 2020. The review assessed successes and failures of TEN-T policy between 1996 and 2009.

In 2014 a new set of TEN-T guidelines were introduced, thus setting out a clear path forward for investment and action between 2014 and 2030. This new policy is built upon the concept of an integrated, multimodal, core network of corridors, linking major nodes through key rail, road, inland waterway, maritime and air transport connections.

To support the transition to a cleaner, greener and smarter mobility in line with the European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the Commission also proposed to revise the TEN-T Regulation of 2013. Accordingly, the Commission made its initial legislative proposal for a revised regulation in December 2021. The new TEN-T regulation shall be adopted by the end of 2023 and become operational as of 2024. It aims to make the EU’s transport network safer, more sustainable, faster, and more convenient for its users.  To address the missing links and modernise the entire network, quality standards should be increased. For this, major TEN-T passenger rail lines should allow trains to travel at 160 km/h or faster by 2040. Canals and rivers must ensure good navigation conditions for a minimum number of days per year. Trans-shipment terminals should be improved, and piggy-back services should become possible on the TEN-T’s rail network. All major cities should develop sustainable urban action plans to promote zero-emission mobility. In addition, the transport infrastructure needs to become fit for both civil and defence use.

The Smart and Sustainable Single European Transport Area requires not only a strong political will but even more so substantial investments. The challenges European transport has been facing as of lately are unprecedented (Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, to name a few). This is in addition to the ongoing challenges of digitalisation and decarbonisation.

Read the policy brief:

12th Florence intermodal forum investing into transport infrastructures : where to focus?

The first episode of the new season of #FSRDebates hosted by Andris Piebalgs and Christopher Jones will focus on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII).

In September, the European Parliament cast its final vote on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), marking the conclusion of its legislative process. The importance of REDIII cannot be overstated as it stands at the forefront of the European Union’s commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This directive represents more than just an aspirational guideline; it embodies the EU’s transformative journey towards a novel economic model, one which is in harmony with the environment.

 The ambitions of REDIII are indeed commendable. The directive has set forth a binding target which stipulates that by 2030, at least 42.5% of the EU’s energy consumption must be derived from renewable sources. To provide a perspective on its ambitious nature, in 2021, this figure stood at just 21.8%. Beyond this overarching goal, REDIII is comprehensive in its approach, advocating for an accelerated adoption of renewables across various sectors such as industry, transport, buildings, and heating and cooling.

 However, as with any directive, its impact lies not in its drafting but in its implementation. Once REDIII is published, the onus will be on EU Member States to incorporate its provisions into their national laws. The pertinent questions arise: Will this transposition be both swift and ambitious? Can Member States promptly initiate the requisite actions to bring about this green revolution?

 Unfortunately, concerns linger. A recent special report by the European Court of Auditors cast a shadow of doubt, indicating a potential gap between ambitions and actions. The report highlighted a concerning trend where the lofty goals for 2030 may not be met.

 Thus, as we acknowledge the final vote on REDIII, it is crucial for stakeholders, policymakers, and citizens alike to engage in introspection. We must not only recognize the key provisions of this revised directive but also ponder upon the steps essential for mobilizing the required actions and finance. The vision for a greener Europe hinges on the breakthrough penetration of renewable energy across all sectors of the economy. While the directive lays the path, the journey to a sustainable European Union will require collective resolve, effort, and action.

The debate will reflect on key provisions of REDIII, challenges reflected in ECA’s Report and discuss how to get ambitions transformed in reality.

Draft programme

Moderator: Marzia Sesini, FSR

Keynote Presentation on REDIII

Edith Hofer, European Commission

ECA’s Report on Climate and energy targets

Lorenzo Pirelli, ECA

Debate

Christopher Jones, FSR

Jesse Scott, Hertie School 

Pieter de Pous, E3G

James Watson, Eurogas 

The Net Zero Carbon Market Policy Dialogue (NZCMPD) brings together regulators, policymakers, academics, and stakeholders from different carbon markets worldwide on a yearly basis.   The NZCMPD stands as a unique process for a fruitful exchange on carbon market development and integration related to net zero targets, regulation, development, and integration of carbon markets.  A background report from LIFE COASE team will feed into the discussion at the policy dialogue and provide a basis for a fruitful discussion.  

This years’ policy dialogue will focus on the social dimensions of emissions trading systems (ETS), competitiveness and carbon leakage and current trends on ETS in the world. The NZCMPD is organised under the framework of the project, LIFE COASE – Collaborative Observatory for ASsessment of the EU ETS and it will build on the previous Carbon Market Policy Dialogue established under the predecessor project LIFE DICET. It informs the Florence Process organised by the European Commission as an exchange platform among ETS regulators.  

The event is the first of three policy dialogues organised over the course of the LIFE COASE project which aims at supporting policymakers in the implementation and development of the EU ETS, including its integration with other carbon markets. The project will establish the first observatory for assessment of the EU ETS, to offer a reference source of knowledge for policymakers and researchers and pave the way for future research and policies on emissions trading.    A key element of the project is to support international cooperation on carbon markets between the EU and partner countries, building on the recent agreement reached at COP26 in Glasgow on the Article 6 framework. 

Participation is by-invitation only.   

What are the environmental and economic impacts of emissions trading systems? How have these indicators evolved over time? Tracking the evolution of a key set of indicators is essential to provide knowledge on the impacts of the system on firms and emissions. To date, there is a great need for defining indicators best fit to monitor the development of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and its impacts in response to regulatory changes and market trends. This need has been felt particularly strongly in the past years, as potentially important effects of rising carbon prices – notably, the impacts on firms’ environmental and economic performances – have been insufficiently studied. This year’s workshop will select and discuss a set of impact indicators best suited for providing information on the effects of the EU ETS on regulated firms’ environmental and economic outcomes. The indicators will be based on relevant variables of environmental and economic performance (e.g., CO2 emissions, profits). The selected indicators will be estimated using data from the EUTL and the Bureau van Dijk – Orbis database.  

The workshop is organised under the framework of the project LIFE COASE – Collaborative Observatory for ASsessment of the EU ETS. It aims at supporting policymakers in the implementation and development of the EU ETS, including its integration with other carbon markets. The project will establish the first observatory for assessment of the EU ETS, in order to offer a reference source of knowledge for policymakers and researchers and pave the way for future research and policies on emissions trading. 

The aim of the workshop is to bring together experts to take stock of existing indicators, discuss their limitations and to agree upon 3 to 5 key indicators to improve the toolbox for assessing the EU ETS. 

This is an online event. Participation is by-invitation only. More info about the project can be found here. 

In this event, we discuss key unanswered questions about nodal pricing before looking at alternative actions to improve locational signals in the electricity system in Europe, including via the smarter use of LMPs.

Watch the recording:

Locational marginal prices (LMPs) are an important design feature of several well-developed electricity markets, particularly in the US. They involve the calculation of energy prices which reflect congestion and losses at particular nodes in the electricity network. They have been hotly debated in Australia and Great Britain, but not implemented so far.

In this event, we explore whether and how European countries should adopt LMPs.

The author of the paper Locational marginal prices for electricity in Europe? The Untold Story, Michael Pollitt (University of Cambridge) will be joined by Tim Schittekatte (MIT) and Ellen Beckstedde (Vlerick Business School) in the role of discussants.

FSR Insights is an online series hosted by Leonardo Meeus and Lucila de Almeida (FSR).

Learn more

Evolution of Electricity markets in Europe online course
What English gardens, monkeys and the Titanic have to do with bidding zones event highlights
Zonal versus Nodal Electricity Pricing: the PJM experience podcast

Fighting the wrong battle? A critical assessment of arguments against nodal electricity prices in the European debate article

Rail has a key role to play in making EU transport more efficient and sustainable, in line with the goals of the EU’s sustainable and smart mobility strategy. Increasing passenger and cargo volumes requires investment in infrastructure but also a more efficient track capacity management, particularly for cross-border services.

Regulation (EU) 913/2010 introduced cooperation mechanisms to ensure sufficient, flexible and high quality infrastructure capacity along EU rail corridors for rail freight operators. However, the evaluation of the Regulation showed that the existing measures have not been sufficient to increase cross-border rail freight. In this light, the Regulation has not been sufficient to support the EU’s ambitious policies in the fields of transport, climate change, energy and the environment. Cross-border rail passenger traffic is on the rise, but it is still only around 10% of total traffic. In line with the European Green Deal objectives, more competitive cross-border rail services would help fight climate change, reduce local air pollution and congestion, increase safety and the energy efficiency of transport. The sustainable and smart mobility strategy envisages measures for better management and coordination of cross-border rail traffic.

On 11^th July 2023 the Commission proposed a Regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area. The Regulation includes major novelties: (1) a more active role of Infrastructure Managers in the planning of capacity; (2) new mechanisms for coordination among stakeholders for capacity planning; (3) new rules for capacity allocation, particularly in case of scarce infrastructure capacity, including socio-economic and environmental criteria; (4) more flexible timing for capacity allocation; (5) more coordination for cross-border services; (6) a Performance Review mechanism; and (7) new entities: ENIM, ENRRB, PRB, Network Coordinator.

The 23^rd Florence Rail Forum will gather European – and national- regulators, industry representatives (Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings) and academics for a discussion on how to better manage rail capacity in the EU. More specifically, forum participants will tackle the following issues:

(1) Capacity planning: Formalising dialogue for capacity planning and allocation. What would be the best instruments to ensure the fruitful dialogue between IMs and RUs, but also Regulatory Bodies and other stakeholders for capacity planning and allocation?

(2) Capacity allocation: Defining harmonised prioritisation criteria. How to define prioritisation criteria in case of scarce infrastructure capacity? Definition socio-economic and environmental.

(3) Track Access Charges: More harmonisation, new principles? How to harmonise TAC in the EU? What principles? What are the right incentives?

Please kindly note that participation at this Forum is by invitation only.

This episode of #FSRDebates is jointly organised by the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This debate will offer the occasion to present and discuss the recently published IEA Italy Energy Policies Review Report, which analyses the Italian energy and climate policies in response to the energy crisis and the wider climate goals. 

Background

Italy has raised its climate ambitions by aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, and the country is on track to reach its 2030 targets for emissions reductions and energy efficiency. The government has taken encouraging initial steps to overcome the long permitting procedures, administrative burdens and increasing local opposition that have delayed new renewable installations.   

In 2022, Italy successfully reduced its reliance on Russian natural gas imports, by signing new contracts with alternative suppliers, making use of the pipeline and LNG infrastructure that it has built up over the last decade. Reducing overall demand for natural gas through an accelerated shift to alternative energy sources and a stronger focus on energy efficiency, especially in the building sector, will not only further strengthen energy security, but also help the country meet its climate targets. 

Draft Programme

14.00 – 14.05 Introduction to the Debate  

Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation  

1405 – 14.20    The IEA Italy Energy Policies Review 2023: main findings

Alessio Scanziani | IEA  

14.20  – 14.30 The regulator’s perspective

Clara Poletti | ARERA

Discussion: Introductory Remarks and Comments

Moderator:  Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation  

14.30 – 15.00 FSR Donors’ roundtable 

Panellists

Giulia Branzi | SNAM

Fabio Bulgarelli | Terna

Claudia Squeglia | ENI

15.00 – 15.20 Q&A from the audience

15.20 – 15.30 Concluding remarks
Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation
Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation 

In this episode of FSR Insights, our hosts Leonardo Meeus and Lucila de Almeida will be joined by Anne Van Valkengoed from the University of Groningen to discuss her research on climate policy and the psychology of climate change adaptation.

Assessing human behavioural change is crucial for shaping the right policy framework for climate adaptation. In light of this, policies and regulations should also consider psychological sciences to better address possible obstacles to act against climate change. This event presents a valuable opportunity to delve into the subject.

As part of the Horizon-funded project, CAPABLE, the Climate research team at the FSR is currently contributing to capture climate policy’s multidimensional outcomes and implications based on the most up-to-date knowledge and methods on economics, sociology, political sciences, and psychology.

Hosts:

Leonardo Meeus and Lucila de Almeida, Florence School of Regulation

Speaker:

Anne Van Valkengoed, University of Groningen

Discussants:

Alessia Casamassima, Florence School of Regulation

Keith Smith, ETH Zürich

More on the CAPABLE project

CAPABLE is a Horizon Europe project led by CMCC that will provide recommendations for designing socially and economically acceptable climate policy measures for 2030 and beyond. CAPABLE will draw on economics, sociology, political sciences, and psychology to capture climate policy’s multidimensional outcomes and implications. It started in January 2023 and will run until December 2025.

#FSRInsights

The FSR Insights series features world-class academics from the energy field, as well as the FSR research team members in the role of discussants, to investigate timely energy topics and future scenarios.

The momentum behind CCS is growing rapidly. Following the Commission’s Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication in December 2021, which underlined the need for large scale CCS to deliver the negative emissions that the EU will increasing need to meet its GHG ambitions, Commissioner Simson noted that ‘no CCUS no net-zero’ during the last CCUS Forum in October 2022. The Commission has now committed to issuing a CCUS Strategy later this year. The CCUS Forum Vision Working Group has tabled a detailed paper with concrete suggestions for the Strategy, and the Infrastructure Group is currently finalising its report. Now the Commission’s Net-Zero Industry Act proposal has proposed an EU-binding target for ensuring the availability of 50 MT of CO2 storage in the EU by 2030, and suggested binding investment obligations on EU oil and gas producers to achieve this. This target may well increase once it applies to Norway, as the NZIA would have EEA relevance.

The debate will address this momentum, look at what should be in the Commission CCUS Strategy, unpick the Commission’s NZIA storage proposal, consider the investment, regulatory, and infrastructure challenges, and ask ‘what needs to be done, when, and by who?

Watch the recording:

Programme

Opening: Ilaria Conti

The FSR welcomes the Alumni community in Florence

As our 20th Anniversary approaches, the Florence School of Regulation would like to celebrate its Alumni and offer them additional networking and learning opportunities.

The first FSR Alumni Day will take place in Florence and gather participants from all our courses, course directors, instructors, and coordinators.

A special event to meet, interact and learn something new

Since its establishment in 2004, the School has been training more than 10.000 participants. In 2014, the FSR launched its first online course and since then, more than 60 online courses have been welcoming energy professionals and academics from worldwide.

To hear back from our community of Alumni and to celebrate their successful learning paths, we designed a special event in Florence.

Programme

• 9:00 – 9:15 Reception and welcome
• 9:15 – 9:45: Welcome by the FSR team and testimonials from the FSR Alumni
• 9:45 – 10:30 Open discussion with Jean-Michel Glachant, Pippo Ranci, Ignacio Perez-Arriaga, and Jorge Vasconcelos
• 10:30 – 11:00: Coffee break
• 11:00 – 12:30: Working groups
  • Regulatory Delivery with Alberto Pototschnig and Jorge Vasconcelos
  • EU Green Deal with Nicolo Rossetto, Simone Borghesi, Leigh Hancher

• 12:30 – 13:30: Lunch
• 13:30 – 15:00: Networking activity
• 15:00 – 16:30 Working groups
  • Gas and Clean Molecules with Ilaria Conti, Andris Piebalgs, Marzia Sesini, Sergio Ascari
  • Electricity Markets with Leonardo Meeus, Ignacio Perez-Arriaga, Carlos Batlle, Ellen Beckstedde

• 16:30 – 17:00: Final remarks and conclusion
• 17:00 – 18:30 Cocktail

Event Fee: 250€

Deadline to register: 18 October 2023

The event will be held exclusively in a residential format in Florence, allowing for a limited number of participants. Admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Directions to reach the venue

The EUI Badia is easily reachable by taxi from Florence centre or from Fiesole (about 20€) and from Florence Airport (about 35€).

If you prefer public transport (ticket 1,50€ to be bought in official ticket offices, machines and authorised retailers that display the Autolinee Toscane sticker): take bus line number 7 from the center, the main railway station or from Fiesole, and get off at the stop ‘San Domenico 01’ (map) From there walk to our main building, Badia Fiesolana (map).

Logistic info

Please arrange your travel and accommodation as soon as possible as Florence is very popular.

Paid registration fee is non-refundable. Please note that the course fee does not cover travel and accommodation costs.

The next episode of the FSR Talks series hosted by Jean-Michel Glachant will welcome Nathalie Tocci, Director of Instituto Affari Internazionali to present her book ‘A Green and Global Europe’ (Polity Press, 2022).

Together with her, we will address the following questions:

• Can the EU accelerate its energy transition and secure its energy supplies, while increasing the cohesion of its Member States instead of fueling their disunion and rivalry?
• Can the EU pursue its global trajectory without worrying its neighbors or losing the benevolence of the B(R)ICs?

Ms. Tocci will be joined by two discussants, bringing European and non-European perspectives:

Anne Houtman, member of the Royal Academy of Belgium; former Dep. Head of Cabinet of EU Commission Presidency, former EU Ambassador in France.

Surya Sethi, advisor at FSR Global; former Principal Adviser & Core Climate Negotiator of the Government of India, former Chief Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation at World Bank.

A double win or a double pain for Europe? Time to double-check!

This event will be live-streamed.

In the next episode of the #FSRDebates series, we will focus on the EU energy platform.

Established in reaction to the Russia-Ukraine war as an instrument to stabilise prices by providing alternatives to Russian gas supplies, the EU Energy platform in 2022 facilitated the signature of Memoranda of Understanding with several key gas exporting partner countries and enhanced international outreach to support the REPowerEU Plan.

The first round of joint gas purchases on 16th May this year successfully managed to attract bids from 25 companies, totaling more than 13.4 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) – even more than the 11.6 bcm of joint demand that EU companies submitted through the recently established AggregateEU mechanism.

The whole operation has been brought to completion via AggregateEU, a mechanism by the service provider PRISMA, and concerns an overall volume of 10.9 bcm. This covers 8.7 bcm of gas via pipeline and 2.2 bcm of LNG.

In 2023 plans, the Platform is due to focus on organising demand aggregation and joint purchasing of gas for coming winter’s (2023-2024) gas storage filling season.

Moreover, EU Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said the gas scheme would act as a “blueprint” for a “new market” for critical materials as well as hydrogen, that will help decarbonise energy-intensive industries.

The European Commission is leading the management of the platform, and acts to provide guidance between EU countries and the industry to ensure that the joint purchasing mechanism is well implemented and that it complies with EU competition rules.

Did the Platform meet the expectations so far? Is its success an evidence that solidarity can work in Europe? Are other commodities as suitable as gas for joint purchasing?

Programme

Introduction to the Debate

Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation

The EU Energy platform

Cristina Lobillo | DG ENER

Setting up the platform: the challenges

Falk Porzig, PRISMA

Panel Discussion

Moderator: Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation

Introductory remarks from the panellists

Carola Millgramm, E-Control

Peter Claes, IFIEC

Doug Wood, EFET

James Watson, Eurogas

Polls and Q&A

Concluding remarks

Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation

Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation