Differentiation of operations and increased transparency of electricity prices and costs support that goal. The Act entered into force at the beginning of June 1995. Finland has no statutory scheme for the planning of national electricity capacity. Permits are no longer required even for the very largest plants. Only nuclear and hydro power need licences under the particular legislation.
Free competition is thus a fact in electricity generation.
For land use, environmental protection and similar reasons, appropriate permits or licences are, of course, required. It is therefore hardly surprising that Finland is in favour of internal electricity markets in Europe. We have supported the principle of negotiated TPA in the Council. We see that for a relatively small market like Finland, international cooperation and competition are both favourable and fruitful. We also see that further harmonisation of national rules and regulation would help to improve the functioning of the internal energy market.