WRITTEN QUESTION E-2260/00 by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission. Liberalisation of the electricity sector.
Date: 2000-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Azores, Spain, electrical industry, liberalisation of the market, single market

C 89 E/170

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.3.2001

So far, the ECB has not intervened on foreign exchange markets. As the exchange rate is not a target
variable for the ECB, interactions to support the euro could become necessary only if the exchange rate is
clearly misaligned, threatening the inflation target of the ECB. The ECB disposes of foreign exchange
reserves of € 50 100 million (30 June 2000) which could be used for interventions. The Eurosystem as a
whole has foreign exchange reserves of almost € 390 000 million.

(2001/C 89 E/192)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2260/00

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission

(7 July 2000)

Subject: Liberalisation of the electricity sector

At present various Member States are completing the process of liberalising electricity charges.

liberalisation will have positive
Across the continent as a whole and in mainland Spain in particular,
effects, although this may not be the case in isolated regions such as the Balearic Islands where, because of
their geographical situation, it is not feasible to create a fully liberalised market.

Given the likelihood that in future liberalisation may not have the desired effects in terms of cutting prices,
will the Commission say whether it plans to take any measures to promote full
liberalisation of the
electricity sector in some regions of Europe such as the Balearic Islands where this is not being achieved?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2000)

According to the information available to the Commission, the electricity supply system on the Balearic
Islands consists of five power generation plants, three located on Majorca, one on Ibiza and one on
Minorca. The systems of these three islands are not interconnected and none of them is connected to the
grid system of the Spanish peninsula.

Given the (cid:129) due to the geographical situation (cid:129) extremely small size of the Balearic electricity supply
system, it is clear that the positive effects of liberalisation on electricity prices produced by increased
competition cannot materialise to the same extent as in bigger electricity markets. Full liberalisation of
isolated systems may even produce negative effects, such as price increases stemming from monopolistic
or oligopolistic behaviour of the (cid:129) naturally (cid:129) limited number of market players operating in such
systems. Therefore, should the Spanish government consider it inappropriate to liberalise such small
isolated systems, it has the possibility to refer to Article 24(3) of the Directive 96/92/EC of the Parliament
and of
in
electricity (1) and apply for a derogation from the main provisions of the directive whilst at the same
time ensuring appropriate price levels for final consumers through effective regulation of the market.

the Council of 19 December 1996 concerning common rules for the internal market

In general, the Commission is fully aware of the specific situation of islands in connection with energy
supply, as it was discussed recently at
the Azores Conference (cid:145)Energy in the Island Communities(cid:146).
The Commission is currently analysing the situation and is considering possible solutions and measures,
in particular with regard to the promotion of renewable sources of energy, which usually have a
particularly large potential for expansion on islands, which are not connected to national networks.

(1) OJ L 27, 30.1.1997.