In this podcast, Dr Leonie Reins from Tilburg University discusses the role of the energy solidarity principle (as outlined in Article 194 TFEU) and the foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regulation in the development of a more integrated EU regulatory framework and a fully-fledged Energy Union. In particular, she examines how the General Court’s recent interpretation of the energy solidarity principle as seen in the OPAL case and the FDI screening will impact the energy sector.

In this podcast, Elina Hautakangas and Tatu Pahkala, from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland, discuss the changing role of distribution system operators (DSOs) in the EU Clean Energy Package and reflect upon the implications of this shift for the EU internal electricity market and, specifically, Finland’s energy sector.

In this podcast, Dr Seita Romppanen, from the University of Eastern Finland, discusses the key aspects of two interrelated regulatory instruments of the EU climate and energy policy framework for 2030 under the Clean Energy Package: the Effort Sharing Regulation and the so-called LULUCF Regulation on land use, land-use change and forestry. Dr Romppanean introduces the overarching regulatory framework for the two regulations and analyses the main provisions of the Effort Sharing Regulation and the LULUCF Regulation before, finally, discussing these regulations in the context of EU climate and energy law and highlighting the next steps of development in this dynamic field of EU law.

In this podcast, Dr Ruven Fleming from the University of Groningen discusses electricity storage in EU law specifically from the point of view of the Clean Energy Package. He provides a brief introduction to what electricity storage is and why it is needed. He then focuses on how the new provisions of the Clean Energy Package address electricity storage and he discusses the practical implications of these new rules to four groups of market participants: energy consumers, energy producers, network system operators and, finally, private companies.

On 28 March 2019, the European Court of Justice annulled the Commission’s decision that the German law on renewable energy (EEG 2012) involved State aid. This annulment, in turn, has cast similar support schemes previously deemed State aid in a contentious light. What was the Court’s reasoning, and what does this ruling mean for the development of case law in State aid? In this podcast, Dr Max Klasse of Blomstein discusses the background to the case and what led to this decision before considering the implications of the judgment, and how it may reframe the criteria that constitutes State aid.

Aggregators in the Clean Energy Package: Opportunities and Difficulties as Enablers for Decentralised Actors

In this podcast, Dr. Maximilian Wimmer, senior researcher at the Foundation for Environmental Energy law (Stiftung Umweltenergierecht), analyses aggregators’ opportunities and difficulties as enablers for decentralised actors in the future energy market with a view on the relevant legal framework found in the “Clean Energy for All Europeans Package”.

In the near future, aggregators are likely to play an important role as enablers for decentralised market actors like consumers, prosumers, active customers and energy communities. With the help of aggregation, it will be possible to reduce prices on control reserves and wholesale markets by combining several different units and optimising their demand and supply behaviours. For consumers and prosumers participating in aggregation services, it will have the potential to lower balancing costs and decrease the energy bill. Further, the aggregator can take the role of the intermediary between decentralised actors and the market and can help small actors like renewable self-consumers, active customers, or small businesses to participate in the electricity market.

Although there are many opportunities for aggregation business models, there are also various barriers. While several aggregation models already exist, the main problems lie with market access, local settlement and the access to or exchange of data. From a legal point of view, the Clean Energy for All Europeans Package provides various legislative acts that concern aggregators or aggregation and will oblige the Member States to take action in these areas. In particular, the Internal Electricity Regulation and Directive as well as the Renewable Energy Directive have to be examined. In this context, the three year Horizon2020 project “BestRES”, with a collaboration of nine partner countries, analysed the current and future situation for aggregators. It identified relevant barriers and possible solutions for a legal framework on European and national level.

For further information and to find out more about BestRES, please visit http://bestres.eu/ or read the reports on the development of a legal framework here: http://bestres.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BestRES-5.2_National-framework-for-RES-aggregationSUER.pdf
http://bestres.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BestRES-5.2_National-framework-for-RES-aggregationSUER.pdf
http://bestres.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BestRES_D5.3_European_framework-for-RES-aggregationSUER.pdf

Interested in this topic? Check out our specialised training on REMIT, designed to provide a critical understanding of how REMIT is currently being implemented and enforced, and equip participants with the necessary tools to anticipate practical issues and ensure compliance. http://bit.ly/2SbvuHt

In this podcast, Sohra Askaryar from Baker Botts (Brussels) addresses the recent case before the European Court of Justice, C-15/16 Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht V Ewald Baumeister, which clarifies the definition of confidential information in the context of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) first introduced in 2004 followed by MiFID II and the regulation MiFIR in 2014, effective from January 2018. The case sets out the criteria which national financial regulators must consider to determine if the information they hold on entities under their supervision may be disclosed to third parties. National financial regulators have extensive powers to request information from companies and are thereby privy to a range of commercially or otherwise sensitive information. This case has important practical implications for these companies with regard to the type of information they can expect to remain confidential and what may be disclosed. Do national financial regulators have an absolute duty of confidentiality? Can access to certain documents be granted and, if so, what determines this disclosure? What powers do financial regulators have over information? What protections are there for entities? What does it mean for energy market trading and transparency?

In a ruling from the WTO, published on 10 August 2018, several of Russia’s arguments regarding the alleged incompatibility of the EU’s energy policy measures with multilateral trade rules were dismissed. But was it a total defeat for Russia? In this podcast Moritz Wüstenberg, a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, discusses the ruling and its wider implications.

Following Russia’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty in 2009, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules offer the only comprehensive regulatory framework for EU- Russia energy trading, which means that the compatibility of WTO rules with the EU energy policy is vital. The key ambition of the Third Energy Package was to advance the integration of the internal energy market, and thus it contains legislation on unbundling – the separation of energy supply and generation from the operation of transmission networks, non-discriminatory access to energy infrastructures and the independence of national energy regulators. Russia had claimed that the EU was discriminating against Russia in the Package with regard to Russian pipeline transport services, service suppliers, and Russian natural gas. What standing does Russia have following the findings in WTO’s panel report? Should the findings of the report be refuted? Take a listen to our podcast to find out more.

For the WTO report on the case, please follow the link: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news18_e/476r_e.htm

and for a brief history of the case, from the EC perspective, click on: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/wtodispute/show.cfm?id=644&code=2

In this podcast, Dr. Tanya Harrington delves into the complex geopolitical, economic, and legal issues surrounding Brexit and the Irish electricity market.
For more details, see here: http://fsr.eui.eu/the-irish-question-brexit-and-the-i-sem/

The Euratom Treaty, signed in Rome on 25 March 1957, established the European Atomic Energy Community, alongside the European Economic Community (EEC). Its function is to provide a regulatory and cooperative framework which governs the development of nuclear energy and its trade across Europe, a kind of ‘nuclear common market’, which also funds cross-border research and development projects, upholds safety standards and procedures, notifies the potential impact of activities on other Member States, and ensures that nuclear materials are not deployed for military use. Euratom has established nuclear cooperation agreements with third countries, including Canada, Japan, and the USA, and sets out provisions for international compliance with nuclear safeguards. Euratom also reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). While a separate legal entity from the EU, it is tied to its laws and institutions, and subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). No country is a full member of Euratom without being a full member of the EU. On 29 March 2017, the triggering of Article 50, signalling the UK’s departure from the EU, also incorporated the UK’s withdrawal from the Euratom Treaty of which they had been members since they joined the EEC in 1973. While legal opinion is divided as to whether exiting the EU also forced an exit from Euratom, as a concomitant requirement of leaving the bloc, Theresa May argued for its inclusion on the grounds of ending the supremacy of EU law over domestic law. What are the possible repercussions of exiting the treaty for both the UK and the EU? Given the UK’s commitment to a nuclear future, as evident by the recent investment in Hinkley Point, and the UK’s deep-seated integration in the EU nuclear energy market, how might the UK attempt to establish itself independent of the legislation, regulatory expectations and terms of compliance set out by Euratom? During the European Union (withdrawal) bill debate on 13 December 2017, the Minister of State for Courts and Justice, said that the UK government intended to retain a close association with Euratom. Could associate membership, à la Switzerland and Ukraine, be an option? How would that be reconciled with an absolutist position on ECJ interference? What does it mean for the research projects dependent on funding from Euratom members, such as that at Culham Oxfordshire? Could the UK be sidelined from lucrative nuclear trade agreements with third parties? With replacement provisions yet to be determined, industry warnings suggest that the UK’s exit from Euratom could cause a major disruption to the entire nuclear fuel cycle. In this podcast, Silke Goldberg from Herbert Smith Freehills discusses the UK’s position, the legal terms of their exit, and the potential consequences of their withdrawal.