WRITTEN QUESTION E-3634/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Measures to tackle energy prices rising as a result of liberalisation, privatisation and competition.
Date: 2000-11-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, electrical energy, single market

C 174 E/96

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

(2001/C 174 E/100)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3634/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(22 November 2000)

Subject: Measures to tackle energy prices rising as a result of liberalisation, privatisation and competition

Is the Commission aware that the option announced for firms and individual consumers of obtaining
1.
their electricity from different producers in the same country, or in different countries, appear to be
difficult or not feasible because high-voltage network have insufficient capacity and because of price
agreements required in the past to protect previous investments?

2.
Is the Commission also aware that the priority enjoyed by the largest firms in the right to free
purchase from new electricity suppliers and the fact that medium-sized firms will have to wait until 2002
and individual consumers until 2004 mean that the latecomers will have to pay a higher price than
privileged early arrivals for what will become a more scarce form of energy?

Can the Commission confirm that in practice this form of liberalisation means that for many

3.
customers, in particular the great majority of domestic users, prices will rise rather than fall?

Does the Commission agree that liberalisation and privatisation of the energy sector is a particular
4.
disadvantage to individual consumers because of
their unequal position on the market, and that
consideration should therefore be given to stopping and reversing this trend, as is now the case in the
state of California?

5. What does the Commission intend to do about the impending shortage of electricity, the price
increases and the unequal position of the different groups of customers on the electricity market?

Source: The Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant of 4 November 2000.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2001)

1.
The Commission is aware of the fact that the possibilities of companies to import electricity from
abroad is limited in some Member States due to the fact that not enough interconnection capacity is
available to satisfy all import demands.

The Commission is concerned about the effect this situation has on the development of competition on
the internal market. It is, therefore, working with the national regulators and the Member States to ensure
that the available capacity on the interconnectors is allocated to the market parties in a non-discriminatory
and transparent way. The Commission is also urgently looking into the compatibility of the existing
reservation agreements on various interconnectors with the competition rules. Should these agreements be
in violation of Articles 81 and 82 (ex Articles 85 and 86) of the EC Treaty, they are to be considered void.
This could potentially reduce the current scarcity on various interconnectors.

2. and 5.
The Commission is aware of the Dutch timetable for the opening of the electricity market to
which the Honourable Member refers. However, the Commission has no grounds to believe that electricity
will become scarce when further consumers receive the possibility to choose their supplier in 2002 and
2004 respectively.

3.
The Commission cannot confirm the statement of the Honourable Member that a gradual approach
towards market opening leads to a rise in electricity prices. The Commission does note however, that
households profit the most from falling electricity prices in Member States that have chosen to give all
consumers free choice of supplier, as for instance in Germany and Finland.

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/97

The Commission agrees with the statement of

the position of
4.
consumers on the internal electricity market is unequal due to the fact that the degree of market opening
differs from Member State to Member State. It is the Commission(cid:146)s intention, in this respect, to make
proposals which would lead, within the appropriate period, all consumers throughout the Community to
be able to choose their supplier, thus profiting from the benefits of market opening in terms of lower
prices and better service.

the Honourable Member that

(2001/C 174 E/101)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3635/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(22 November 2000)

Subject: Concentration of ICT firms in large cities with a shortage of electricity

Can the Commission confirm that Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris are favourite locations

1.
for ICT firms, not least because of their optical-fibre cable connections?

2.
Can the Commission also confirm that to maintain thousands of websites in cyberspace, to forward
millions of e-mails and to link mobile phones with the Internet these firms need data hotels and telecom
switches as large as sports halls full of computers each of which consumes, for computing and cooling
purposes, as much electricity as a town of 20 000 inhabitants?

Is the Commission aware that new firms requesting adequate connections to the electricity grid in the

3.
cities referred to above face a wait of up to three years?

4. What can the Commission do to spread this (cid:145)new economy(cid:146) over locations with a serious shortage of
high-quality modern job and provide an adequate supply of electricity?

Source: The Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, 3 November 2000.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 December 2000)

1.
The location of ICT firms is influenced by a whole range of factors. Some of these apply to all firms,
e.g. the tax situation, the physical infrastructure and the origin of the firm(cid:146)s founders. Factors specific to
ICT firms include the availability of skilled labour, the proximity of universities specialising in technology,
and network connections, particularly their speed and cost. Taken together, these factors lead a great many
firms to set up in Europe(cid:146)s main cities. However, nothing leads the Commission to suppose that the four
cities the Honourable Member refers to are particularly favoured by ICT firms.

The energy consumption of

2.
is changing constantly. Thanks to
telecommunications equipment
technological progress, equivalent performance is requiring ever less energy, with equipment taking up
ever less space. This unfortunately makes it impossible to calculate the energy consumption and space
requirement of an unspecified set of activities.

3.
The arrangements for connection to the electricity grid, and the obligations placed on distribution
companies, are laid down by the Member States, whose competent authorities are responsible for
monitoring this, without reporting to the Commission, in line with the principle of subsidiarity.