WRITTEN QUESTION E-0910/01 by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission. Entry barriers on the Spanish power generation market identified by the national competition authority.
Date: 2001-03-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, electrical energy, energy production, market access, services contract

C 318 E/150

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

If an owner runs his diesel vehicle on methyl ester fuels such as rape-seed oil, that does not invalidate the
type approval for that vehicle, as the manufacturer has no means of monitoring the choice of fuel in the
case of vehicles which have already been registered. Responsibility for the correct running of vehicles lies
with the owner. However, the authorities in the Member States are responsible for ensuring the proper use
of methyl esters in vehicles.

The cross-border movement of vehicles, however, is not thereby restricted. A vehicle which has filled up
with rape-seed oil in, for instance, Germany can continue to travel to another Member State and fill up
there with normal diesel fuel.

the Commission(cid:146)s Motor Vehicle Emissions Group (MVEG).

The intention is for the problem of using methyl esters in diesel fuels to be discussed under the annual
work plan of
If appropriate, specific
requirements may be drawn up for emission limits, and hence related requirements for vehicles using
rape-seed oil or any other type of methyl ester. Specifications may have to be devised for diesel fuels
containing methyl esters.

If such requirements are considered necessary, the emission directives will be adapted as soon as possible,
in order to extend the scope of the European type approval for motor vehicles to include the use of new
fuels such as methyl esters.

For nearly 20 years, the Community(cid:146)s research and development programmes have been intensively
promoting biofuels, including rape-seed oil. More than half of all projects involving the production and use
of rape-seed oil have received Community funding. These programmes have thus contributed greatly to the
success of the forthcoming market launch of biodiesel.

The Commission is currently preparing a Communication on biofuels containing a proposal for a Directive
on the introduction of biofuels. This directive is still at the initial stage of preparation, but rape-seed oil as
a diesel substitute will play a major role in it.

Furthermore, the Commission has recently published a call for tenders for a study into the overall
environmental effects of different future vehicle fuels/concepts. This study will concentrate on transport
crossing the borders and will include concepts aimed at meeting the climate change threat while also
improving the situation concerning other environmental problems or at least not jeopardising the benefits
already achieved.

(2001/C 318 E/162)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0910/01

by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

(28 March 2001)

Subject: Entry barriers on the Spanish power generation market identified by the national competition

authority

The report issued in Spain by the national Anti-Trust Commission (TDC) in the case concerning the
merger of Endesa and Iberdrola probes in detail into the entry barriers existing in the Spanish electricity
industry, namely: the risk stemming from regulation, isolation, the existence of strategic assets, excessive
concentration, vertical integration, and costs of transition to competition (CTCs). As a result of all these
factors, the Spanish electricity market is largely unassailable.

In the section on CTCs, the TDC points out that they could reduce the number of new firms entering the
market and gives two reasons. Firstly, because of CTCs, the pool prices bear no relation to reality, and the
real costs are consequently not passed on to the market. Secondly, the inflexibility resulting from the price
ceiling increases the risk to firms entering the market as far as recouping their investment is concerned,
because the ceiling (Ptas 6 per kWh) is applied indiscriminately.

Does the Commission share the TDC(cid:146)s view of the Spanish electricity industry?

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/151

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2001)

The Commission notes that the economic analysis on the Spanish electricity market as referred to by the
Honourable Member was carried out by the Spanish anti-trust authority ((cid:145)Tribunal de Defensa de
la Competencia(cid:146)) in the context of the merger between the two largest electricity companies in Spain,
notably Endesa and Iberdrola.

The Commission(cid:146)s own analysis of the electricity market in Europe as a whole is set out in a Commission
Communication to the Parliament and the Council on (cid:145)completing the internal energy market(cid:146) (1). In this
Communication,
the Commission outlines the encouraging progress that has been made with the
development of the electricity and gas markets in Europe.

However, the ultimate objective of a fully integrated market has not yet been achieved. This is why the
Commission has now proposed rules aiming at the creation of a real integrated single market, as opposed
to a situation characterised by fifteen more or less liberalised but largely national markets.

The Commission believes that the adoption of these proposals by The European Parliament and the
Council will address the main remaining obstacles to the creation of a truly operation internal market and
will accelerate the pace of market opening. In particular, they will have a positive impact in addressing the
fundamental problems that persist in most Member States, such as those identified by the Spanish anti-
trust authorities with regards to the Spanish market and referred to by the Honourable Member.

The Commission is aware of the allegations made by the Spanish anti-trust authority with regards to the
Spanish legal regime on the compensation of stranded costs (CTCs). The Commission is currently
examining the compatibility of
the
Commission will take into account all the key elements, such as the recent legislative amendments
introduced by the Spanish authorities as well as any other Community rules or case law that may be
relevant for the purpose of this file.

this regime with Community State aids rules.

In this analysis,

(1) COM(2001) 125 final.

(2001/C 318 E/163)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0914/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) and Gianfranco Fini (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Poultry crisis in Italy

(28 March 2001)

No doubt the Commission is aware of the poultry crisis which affected several regions of northern Italy in
1999, particularly Lombardy and Veneto.

In December 1999, there was an outbreak of the highly virulent influenza strain H7N1. The European
Union and the government minimised the phenomenon, and the Commission did not give proper
consideration to the fact that if vaccines were not used, the virus could become more virulent.

in August 2000,

When later,
the virus remained at a low level of
pathogenicity thanks to vaccination. However, the EU and the Italian Government were not really troubled
by the 9,4 million chickens which died or were killed in Lombardy alone (1 354 880 in the province of
Bergamo, 4 728 357 in Brescia, 132 103 in Cremona and 3 254 676 in Mantua, representing 26 % of total
stocks).

influenza spread once again,

The figures are striking in view of the sizes of the areas involved and the percentage of birds lost, which
was 26 % of a total of 36 480 000, and the fact that over 13 million birds were killed in Veneto. Without
wishing to dramatise, it is a fact that the national health authorities and the technical Commission bodies
acted in unison in backing the mass slaughter ideology. The result was that the actual breeders (not the
livestock lessors) suffered enormous commercial losses (interruption of commercial activities for several
months) caused by the steps taken by the veterinary authorities.