WRITTEN QUESTION P-1459/02 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Delays and lack of concrete planning for the liberalisation of the electricity market in Greece.
Date: 2002-05-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, competition law, electrical energy, energy supply, energy transport, liberalisation of the market, national implementing measure, natural gas, single market

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/209

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(4 July 2002)

The State aid measures benefiting road transport operators in Belgium, France and Italy have been

1.
assessed and authorised by the Council in accordance with Article 88(2), third subparagraph.

2.
The current ecopoints system expires on 31 December 2003. The Laeken European Council meeting
of 14 and 15 December 2001 called for (1) an extension of the ecopoints system as an interim solution
pending the adoption of the framework proposal on infrastructure charging. Accordingly, on 20 December
2001 the Commission submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a proposal for a Regulation
establishing an ecopoints system applicable to heavy goods vehicles travelling through Austria for the year
2004 (2). The European Parliament and the Council have begun their examination of this proposal.

(1) Point 58 of the conclusions.
(2) OJ C 103, 30.4.2002.

(2002/C 277 E/230)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1459/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 May 2002)

Subject: Delays and lack of concrete planning for the liberalisation of the electricity market in Greece

Under Law 2773/99, which transposed Community Directive 96/92 (1), the Greek electricity market has
officially been liberalised since 19 February 2001 and the Ministry for Development has to date granted
prospective investors seven operating licences for natural gas thermo-electric plants.

However, it is completely impossible for these licences to be used for the following reasons:

(a) Law 2773/99 establishes discriminatory treatment in favour of the Public Electricity Company (DEI)
by giving it exclusive use of domestic fuel (lignite); in addition, the 65 % of DEI’s electricity production
which is based on the use of lignite is treated preferentially, since DEI only has to bear the cost of
mining, without having to pay royalties to the Greek state.

(b) DEI submitted only a few days ago its plan for separate accounting treatment of its activities, as set
out under Articles 13 and 14 of Community Directive 96/92, and this has not yet been checked, so
that the cost of generation remains totally untransparent and it is impossible to define conditions for
competition.

(c)

In spite of the fact that natural gas has been prescribed as the exclusive fuel for the new thermo-
electric power stations, the natural gas market remains totally closed and the implementation of
Community Directive 98/30 (2) is not anticipated before 2006.

(d) The Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) does not have any decision-making powers, but only an
initiating role, and therefore cannot fulfil its regulatory mission, which the political leadership of the
Ministry for Development has retained.

Is the Commission satisfied with the liberalisation of the energy market in Greece?

Is it satisfied with the way in which the ERA is operating?

What are the reasons for the difficulties in liberalising the market, and what action does the Commission
intend to take in order to liberalise the energy market in Greece?

(1) OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 1.

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14.11.2002

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(17 June 2002)

The Commission is satisfied, in principle, with the formal implementation that Greece has undertaken of
the Directive regarding the Internal Market for Electricity (96/92/EC) (1), taking into account, in particular,
the two-years derogation attributed to Greece to implement
the Directive, due to the particular
circumstances existing in that Member State. However, the Commission is fully aware that the Greek
electricity market, as is the case in certain other Community markets, is as yet by no means characterised
as a fully competitive market.

In this light, the Commission has already taken the following actions:

(a) proposed a Directive amending Directives 96/92 EC and 98/30/EC (2), which provide for:

A opening of the market to industrial consumers by 2004, and household customers by 2005;

A legal unbundling of
Operators (DSOs);

the Transport System Operators (TSOs) and the Distribution System

A common set of regulatory competences;

A access to the network on the basis of published tariffs;

A increased attention to public service levels, and

A increased attention for security of supply issues;

(b) proposed a Regulation of the Parliament and of the Council on conditions for access to the network
for cross-border exchanges in electricity (3), which will provide a reliable framework for non-
discriminatory and cost-reflective cross-border transmission tariffs and congestion management
mechanisms;

(c) presented a Communication on European Energy Infrastructure,

in which 12 priority projects of
European interest were defined. One of these priority projects refers to the electricity interconnection
of Greece to the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) system through the
Balkan countries, and is therefore very important for Greece for its connection to the Union’s internal
electricity market;

(d) presented a proposal for the revision of the Trans European Networks (TEN)-Energy Guidelines, giving
priority support to the 12 priority projects referred to above and proposing that support may reach
20 % of investment cost, instead of the previous 10 %;

(e)

launched a renewed regional electricity market in South-East Europe, in which Greece will play a
pivotal role. The operation of this regional market will certainly increase the trade of electricity
between Greece and the neighbouring countries, contributing to security of supply and the operation
of a more effective internal electricity market;

The Commission believes that these actions, which received strong support from the Parliament and at the
European Council in Barcelona (March 2002), will go a long way to contribute to addressing the issues
raised by the Honourable Member.

On the specific question of accounting unbundling, the Commission requested from the Greek government
in April 2002 further details regarding the implementation of Article 14 paragraph 3 of Directive 96/92/EC
which requires the full accounting unbundling of integrated electricity undertakings.

The Commission will not fail to take appropriate action in the event that the recent measures taken by the
Greek government fail to fully comply with the Directive’s requirements.

The Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) has been relatively recently established, and the Commission
considers that it has made good progress in implementing a system of effective regulation. The above-
mentioned proposed common regulatory competences proposed by the Commission in its revision of the
electricity and gas internal market Directives will reinforce the role and competences of the Regulatory
Authority. Furthermore, the Commission is also following with great interest the recent action by the

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Energy Regulatory Authority to propose a major reorganisation of the present electricity market structure,
following a series of public consultation and discussions. Although it is quite early for the Commission to
express its view on the new measures under discussion, the first impression is that the RAE’s attempts to
introduce more competition into the Greek electricity market are likely to improve the present situation.

Among the new proposals RAE is trying to mitigate the effect of the dominant position of the Public
Power Corporation (DEI)
inter alia by foreseeing a certain percentage of this
generation to be allocated to other suppliers.

in lignite generation,

Furthermore, with respect to the opening of the gas market through the transposition of the Directive 98/
30/EC (2), the Commission has been informed of the intentions of the Greek government to speed up the
opening of the gas market in 2004, earlier than originally envisaged and required by the Directive.
Furthermore, a decision has recently been taken to lower transport fees for gas in 2004, a measure that
can help in lowering the cost for new entrants.

(1) Directive 96/92/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 concerning common rules for the

internal market in electricity, OJ L 27, 30.1.1997.

(2) Directive 98/30/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 concerning common rules for the

internal market in natural gas, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.

(3) OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001.

(2002/C 277 E/231)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1463/02

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 May 2002)

Subject: Funding of alternative range of textbooks under the 1st operational programme ‘Education and

initial vocational training’

Subprogramme 1, measure 1, action (a) entitled ‘Books-Programmes’, forming part of the 1st operational
programme ‘Education and initial vocational training’
in Greece, provided for the publication of an
alternative range of teaching material, such as a selection of textbooks for second-year physics. One year
after their publication,
the problems they created in the
educational process.

these books were withdrawn because of

1. What amount of funding was made available for this project?

2. What measures will the Commission take?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(5 July 2002)

Under the operational programme mentioned by the Honourable Member, funding for the production and
publication of an alternative range of books/textbooks was actually provided.

The action referred to was implemented and financed under this programme to the tune of Ecus 200 000.

According to information provided to the Commission by the Ministry of Education, some of these
textbooks have been withdrawn.

The Commission does not currently have any other information on this matter. A letter will therefore be
sent to the Ministry of Education in order to look at what action to take concerning this question when
the operational programme is wound up.