The Vienna Forum on European Energy Law is an annual joint initiative of the FSR Energy Law and Policy Area and the Energy Community Secretariat. The forum is designed to promote discussion on the most challenging energy issues currently facing the EU Member States and the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from both a legal and economic perspective, while also critically examining the opportunities that integration with the EU energy market presents.  

The initiative intends to bring together representatives from EU institutions, academics, and representatives from regulatory authorities alongside industry members and energy-focused law firms and consultancies.

This year, the event will open with an evening reception on 4th May at the Consitutional Court, Vienna, with a high-level debate on energy and geopolitics. 

This will be followed by a full day of discussion on 5th May at the Supreme Court, Vienna, which will include issues such as the Commission’s new energy market design, the renewable and energy efficiency package, market integration and market governance, and cyber security and the possible threats it poses to the security of supply.

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For further information on the Forum, please visit the website

Participation Fee: €250

Please note, FSR Energy and FSR Energy Law Donors are exempt from the fee, as are invited representatives of Energy Community Contracting Parties (upon confirmation with the Energy Community Secretariat) 

Do mature RES-E technologies still need dedicated support towards 2030?

Join the FSR Online Debate with:

Moderator

• Jean-Michel Glachant, Florence School of Regulation

Panel

• Clemens Cremer, EnBW
• Fabio Genoese, Tractebel
• Anne Held, Fraunhofer ISI
• Mario Ragwitz, Fraunhofer ISI, University of Freiburg, FSR
• Koen Noyens, Eurelectric

Renewable energies are no more a marginal component of the electricity mix in Europe. In the last decade, effective supporting schemes have promoted a wide deployment of power plants exploiting wind, sun and biomass energy, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions and to the development of new business opportunities within the EU borders.

Such policies have been so successful that some of these technologies have now costs that are comparable to that of other conventional ways of generating power. However, the price paid by energy consumers is not negligible at all and the proper functioning of the internal market for electricity is a challenge.

A strong debate is now going on at the European level, whether dedicated support for mature renewable technologies should continue or not after 2020, especially in the light of the current overcapacity affecting many EU power systems and the possible critical overlapping with the other traditional pillar of the EU climate policy, i.e. the ETS. On the other hand efficient financing schemes for renewables can be an important pillar to reduce the capital costs for decarbonisation of the European power system.

The Clean Energy Package proposed by the European Commission last year makes the topic even more relevant, since the EU will decide and shape in the next months the details of its energy and climate policy for the decade between 2020 and 2030.

This online debate will analyse the main issues on the table:

1. do almost mature RES technologies still need support?
2. are financing schemes for RES in the power sector the most efficient and effective way to further the decarbonisation goal set out by the EU?
3. are dedicated schemes for RES compatible with the pricing of carbon provided by the ETS or should the latter be reformed once again?
4. in which way should the support measures be designed in order to minimise the costs for the consumers and the society as a whole?

Interested in this topic? Learn more on our Training Course on the Regulation and Integration of Renewable Energy

Energy Law & Policy Workshop

While the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU remain to be seen, the possible realities of Brexit are beginning to unfold.

With an EU Energy Union determinedly focused on harmonisation and deeper integration across Member States, unravelling the EU’s ties with the UK presents considerable challenges in uncharted territory. To date, the UK has played a significant role in influencing the EU’s energy policies and has been at the forefront of liberalisation initiatives. 

• How might the EU redefine its energy agenda without the UK? Furthermore, with everything to play for, how will a self-determined UK establish itself in the energy market?

This workshop will focus on the complex issues Brexit poses from both a legal and economic perspective, and examine what may happen in the interim period, across three themes.

Session I │ The Impact on the UK Energy Market

This session will consider the impact it will have on the market, especially in areas such as electricity and gas trading, interconnectors, nuclear and RES policies, and how these will be navigated in the transition period.

*Access the slides from the session by clicking on the speaker below

Michael Pollitt 

Gordon Downie 

Angela Hepworth

Clara Semal 

Paul Hallas 

Session II │ The Impact on the EU Energy Market

This session will look at the Winter Package and the UK’s Electricity Market Reform policy and consider how the priorities of the EU and the UK may differ. How will the UK’s exit affect market integration initiatives, such as market coupling, cross-border capacity mechanisms, and the development of network codes? From a policy perspective, what will happen to environmental and nuclear policies? What will be the impact upon the EU ETS?

*Access the slides from the session by clicking on the speaker below

Lawrence Slade

Kai Uwe Pritzsche 

Anouk Honore 

Fabien Roques 

Luca Taschini 

Wolfram Vogel 

Session III │ The Impact on Competition Law and Policy and Enforcement

This session will examine the effects of Brexit on competition and State aid enforcement. Outside of the EU’s control, what kind of industrial policies and State aid measures might the UK pursue? What will be the impact on energy disputes and arbitration? Will the English courts be more or less attractive for arbitration? And what will happen in the interim period?

*Access the slides from the session by clicking on the speaker below

Ali Nikpay

Johannes Koepp 

Lorenzo Coppi 

Peter Willis 

Matthew Levitt 

For the complete set of slides see here

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Energy Law & Policy Workshop

This workshop is designed to assess the current legal issues surrounding the enforcement of EU antitrust rules and the changing role of governance in the energy sector in light of the Clean Energy Package.

The workshop will open with a keynote address from Vice-President of the European Commission and head of the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, on the Commission’s new market design proposals and the impact of the Energy Union at EU and Member State level. 

Focus will then turn to the role of competition in the energy transition, examining the impending challenges of big data and price comparison websites, retail price controls, and reviewing recent case law at the CJEU. This will be followed by a study of governance in the energy sector, assessing the Commission’s new governance proposals, centralised and decentralised competition enforcement and, in particular, the role of Regional Operational Centres and its implications from an economic, legal, and regulatory perspective.

Click here to download the presentations

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Register by 10 April 2017

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FSR Regulatory Policy Workshop Series 2016-2017

Since the 1980s, an increasing level of automation has been introduced to support a reliable and secure energy system, as well as to guarantee a certain level of efficiency. This tendency has recently increased and digital technologies have been used to support greater efficiency, to provide more choice to consumers, to empower them in the liberalised market, and to better support other developments – such as the penetration of renewable-based generation and e-mobility. At the same time, in the Digital Age, energy has become essential to enable a secure and safe transition of activities to the digital world and, in the EU, to implement the Digital Agenda and promote a well-functioning Digital Single Market. The energy infrastructures are therefore not only essential to support energy transmission and supply, but also to support digital technologies.

As energy, information and communication technologies are essential to each other; a more careful protection of critical energy infrastructures has become a key objective. The energy system includes different segments – generation/production, transportation and delivery – as well as a set of processes and the interconnected communication devices that monitor and control such procedures. All components exchange information which is needed to run daily operations. They also include control systems that operate and monitor the energy infrastructure – such as the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Some energy systems designed in the past have to be protected from the security threats and risks posed by the integration of advances in computers and communication, as off-the-shelf software and operating systems, public telecommunication networks, and the Internet.

Cybersecurity was approached at the European level in 2016, as a reaction of the first significant cyber-attack on civil infrastructure occurred in Ukraine in December 2015. In July 2016 the Directive on security of network and information systems (the NIS Directive) was adopted, providing legal measures to increase the overall level of cybersecurity in the EU and enhancing the reliability of the energy systems. On 30 November 2016, the European Commission unveiled a package of measures – “Clean Energy for all Europeans” – to keep the European Union competitive as the clean energy transition is changing global energy markets. The proposed legislation envisages also the development of a Cybersecurity Network Code.

The Workshop aims at reviewing the current state of thinking on cybersecurity in the context of the energy sector and its critical and non-critical infrastructure. It will Identify the main emerging and critical risks and how they may be addressed, taking into consideration market constraints as well as the recent NIS Directive and the European Commission’s legislative proposals “Clean Energy for all Europeans”.

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THIS WORKSHOP IS EXCLUSIVELY OPEN TO NATIONAL REGULATORS, REPRESENTATIVES FROM PUBLIC BODIES AND FSR DONORS.

Special registration requests must be submitted to the coordinator of the workshop, Ilaria Bellacci.

TSO-DSO coordination for electricity system balancing and congestion management

Interactive online webinar in collaboration with the SmartNet Project. Moderated by Leonardo Meeus (Vlerick Business School, FSR).

Academic panel:

• Tomas Gomez (Comillas University)
• Gianluigi Migliavacca (Smartnet Project coordinator)
• Marco Rossi (Smartnet Project)

The moderator will give an introduction on the topic and will address some polls to the online audience. The speakers will then give their view, also reacting to the opinion expressed by the attendees. An open Q&A session will follow.

Download the slides

About the SmartNet Project

The European Commission founded SmartNet Project aims to provide optimised instruments and modalities to improve the coordination between the grid operators at national and local level (respectively the TSOs and DSOs) and the exchange of information for monitoring and for the acquisition of ancillary services (reserve and balancing, voltage balancing control, congestion management) from subjects located in the distribution segment (flexible load and distributed generation).

FSR is pleased to contribute to the development of the next generation of researchers in Europe by launching a 2-day Young Researcher Seminar hosted in Florence, covering the following two topics:

• Electricity Market Design (Day 1);
• Electricity Grid Regulation (Day 2).

The mornings will be dedicated to a panel debate and in the afternoons the selected researchers will have the chance to present their papers and receive feedback from the Scientific Committee:

Scientific Committee Members:

• Jean-Michel Glachant | Florence School of Regulation
• Leonardo Meeus | Vlerick Business School and Florence School of Regulation

Panel Debate Members:

• Christophe Gence-Creux | Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)
• Konrad Purchala | Polish Transmission System Operator (PSE S.A.)
• Fabien Roques | FTI Consulting & University Paris-Dauphine
• Luca lo Schiavo | Autorità per l’Energia Elettrica il Gas e il Sistema Idrico (AEEGSI)
• Joe Perkins | Chief Economist Ofgem

Call for Papers

For the first time the Florence School of Regulation is calling for papers on Electricity Market Design and Electricity Grids Regulation written by young researchers.

Download the Draft Programme

The Florence School of Regulation, together with Bruegel and Fondazione ENI Enrico Mattei, is jointly organising the exclusive Workshop: ‘Challenges for EU Regulators in the Age of Decarbonisation and Digitalization’ taking place in Florence on Thursday 2 February 2017.

The ongoing decarbonisation of the energy system has not only led to an energy mix that is increasingly integrating renewable energy sources;  but it has also initiated a decentralisation process that brought the individual customer at the centre of this transition and enabled his or her participation in the business’s digitalization.

The event will therefore explore the latest challenges faced by regulatory authorities at the national and EU level, as well as by the transmission and distribution system operators.

These different perspectives are analysed in the three Sessions of the workshop:

• Session I: The EU Regulators Perspective

Cross-sectoral and cross-authority cooperation in the digital world. How important is it, and how will it work in the case of issues around smart meters in energy, the internet of things, data privacy, and data protection?

• Session II: The DSOs Perspective

What is a digital DSO for you? What does it imply in terms of organizational change, business model innovation, and data governance? What about collaboration with TSOs?

• Session III: The TSOs Perspective

What is a digital TSO for you? What does it imply in terms of organizational change, business model innovation, and data governance? What about collaboration with DSOs?

Read the Workshop Highlights (PDF)

This workshop was organised in collaboration with DG Climate Action of the European Commission and within the framework of the LIFE SIDE project. The project, started on 1 September and  funded under the LIFE Programme, aims to support policymakers on the implementation of the EU ETS. 

 
Go to the workshop web page.

The LIFE SIDE project is co-financed by the LIFE Programme of the European Commission

Important changes are now affecting the distribution side of power systems. Emerging distributed technologies—including flexible demand, distributed generation, energy storage, power electronics and control devices—are creating new options for the provision and consumption of electricity services. At the same time, information and communications technologies are becoming ubiquitous, enabling more flexible and efficient consumption of electricity, improved visibility of network use, and enhanced control of power systems.

The Utility of the Future study presents a framework for proactive regulatory, policy, and market reforms designed to enable the efficient evolution of power systems over the next decade and beyond.

The goal is to facilitate the integration of all resources, be they distributed or centralised, that contribute to the efficient provision of electricity services and other public objectives. This framework includes a comprehensive and efficient system of market-determined prices and regulated charges for electricity services that reflect, as accurately as possible, the marginal or incremental cost of providing these services; improved incentives for distribution utilities that reward cost savings, performance improvements, and long-term innovation; reevaluation of the power sector’s structure to minimise conflicts of interest; and recommendations for the improvement of wholesale electricity markets. This study also offers a set of insights about the roles and values of distributed energy resources, and the factors most likely to determine the portfolio of cost-effective resources, both centralised and distributed, in diverse contexts and regulatory regimes, but focus mainly on United States and Europe.

The study team from MIT and IIT-Comillas combines a range of skills in quantitative economic and engineering modeling, with a deep understanding of the complex interactions in the electric power industry.

The team includes faculty with decades of experience in advising governments, corporations, and institutions on regulation and market design. The consortium partners — industrial and other market participants — bring valuable real-world expertise and experience to the study.

Meeting Agenda

• 8:30 – 9:00 am  Registration and Continental breakfast
• 9:00 – 9:10 am Welcome and introduction
• 9:10 – 10:00 am Overview of the study
• 10:00 – 10:30 am Panel discussion and Q&A Session

Register here

Please note that this event is closed to members of the media

From patchwork to a well-functioning and socially fair EU road transport market.

The EU single market for road transport has established harmonised rules in several areas such as access to the profession and market, working and driving time, and rest periods. Also, it has led to more efficient and customer-oriented transport services and safer operations.

However, the sector is suffering from some major imperfections. Some hauliers make use of “letterbox” companies to circumvent labour laws of the country they are actually primarily operating in. Often drivers are paid under the labour laws of a given country, despite spending the majority of their time in other countries. The definition and application of the condition of “posted worker” are rarely recognised and even less enforced. Protection of workers is essential. However, uncoordinated national initiatives to protect national workers (e.g. minimum wage laws, prohibition for drivers to have their regular weekly rest in the cabin of the vehicle) fragment the international road transport market.

International transport operations have been fully liberalised in the EU, yet the market is not operating efficiently because restrictions remain on cabotage operations. Member States interpret these restrictions differently and sometimes try to limit operations by foreign hauliers. Above all, EU rules can only be effective if their enforcement is guaranteed in all Member States – which is not the case at present.

How can these imperfections on the market side as well as on the social side be overcome?

The Florence Road Forum will take stock of existing initiatives and look at new approaches to solve some of the most pressing issues in the European road transport market. Following the usual format of the Florence Transport Forums, in each session speakers and participants will have the chance to contribute to the discussion moderated by Prof Matthias Finger (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and European University Institute). Representatives of the European Commission, of major stakeholders as well as leading academics will engage in the discussion. Discussions will address four central questions:

• How can the problem of “letterbox firms” in the road sector be tackled effectively?
• How to ensure proper enforcement of EU labour rules in the road sector?
• How can cabotage rules be made clearer and easier to enforce, so that the same rules apply across the EU?
• How to balance the free market and the protection of social rights of workers in the sector?

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Final Programme

European Transport Regulation Observer

Summary of the presentations

Pictures  of the Event

RELATED PRESENTATIONS

Introduction to the Road Transport Forum MATTHIAS FINGER,  Part-time Professor & Director of the Transport Area, Florence School of Regulation/EUI; and Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

How can the problem of “letterbox firms” in the road sector be tackled effectively? MYRIAM JANS, Manager European Affairs Dutch Association Transport and Logistics (TLN)

How can the problem of “letterbox firms” in the road sector be tackled effectively? JAN NEMEC, General Delegate ad interim IRU Permanent Delegation to the EU

How to ensure proper enforcement of EU labour rules in the road sector? GERARD SCHIPPER, ECR general delegate

New cabotage rules A real need for an international transport sector? JOANNA JASIEWICZ, Transport and Logistics Poland / Gide law firm

Clear and Effective Cabotage – the UK approach ELIZABETH SHOVELTON, Head of Operator Licensing and Roadworthiness, Department for Transport (UK)

How to balance the free market and the protection of social rights of workers in the sector? DIRK SAILE,  Head Brussels Office, German Road Haulage Association

The impending new energy market design is expected to recalibrate the current power structures of the energy sector, both in the responsibilities assigned to the various governing bodies, and how these structures interact with each other at national, regional and European level.

With myriad developments and challenges on the horizon, this inter-disciplinary conference aims to address the mechanisms of EU energy governance from a theoretical and practical perspective, examining the role of these regulatory frameworks, how they are established, and their impact on the sector.

Scientific and Organising Committee:

Liana Cozigou (CREG), Adrien de Hauteclocque (ECJ/FSR, EUI), Gaspard Demur (European Commission), Marie-Pierre Fauconnier (CREG), Hélène Gassin (CEER/CRE), Annegret Groebel (ACER/BNetzA), Frederik Vandendriessche (UGent), Arnaud Van Waeyenberge (HEC Paris/ULB), Koen Verhoest (UA)

The following is a non-exhaustive list of potential subjects:

• Legitimacy of European Agencies to act as a market regulator (i.e. which tasks can be given to ACER without infringing the subsidiarity principle and which safeguards must be put in place?);
• Independence of ACER vis-à-vis the European Commission (and how to guarantee it);
• Governance standards that should be applied;
• Legal mechanisms to ensure the transparency of decision-making processes;
• Control processes that could be implemented in such a new framework;
• Decision-making of ACER and the democratic framework;
• Adequate regulation and the protection of consumers;
• Decentralisation of generation and the role of local authorities;
• The Energy Union project and the existing multi-level energy governance framework (including inter-governmental agreements);
• Governance devices for cooperation at sub-Union level: new trends in regionalisation;
• Formal and de facto interactions between ACER and the national regulatory agencies;
• Cooperation and co-decision of EU national regulators;
• Energy legislation, network codes and comitology;
• Litigating energy regulation at national and EU level;
• Governing the new energy/ finance interface: enforcing REMIT;
• The new role of Power Exchanges;

Read the Call for Papers

All those interested in participating in this conference are invited to send an abstract (max. 500 words) to Liana Cozigou (Liana.Cozigou@creg.be) by 10th December 2016. All contributors will be promptly informed of the selection decision. Selected authors will be invited to submit their paper (max 8000 words) by the end of February 2016.

Selected papers will be published.

For additional information, please contact Liana Cozigou.