Summary of Commission Decision of 17 April 2018 establishing the specific measures to correct the anti-competitive effects of the infringement identified in the Commission Decision of 5 March 2008 on the granting or maintaining in force by the Hellenic Republic of rights in favour of Public Power Corporation S.A. for extraction of lignite (Infringement Procedure Nr. 2003/4428) (Case AT.38700 — Greek lignite and electricity markets) (notified under document C(2018) 2104)
Date: 2018-04-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Greece, award of contract, coal mining, dominant position, electrical energy, energy production, lignite, market access, mining extraction, service concession








C_2018245EN.01000301.xml










13.7.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 245/3





Summary of Commission Decision
of 17 April 2018
establishing the specific measures to correct the anti-competitive effects of the infringement identified in the Commission Decision of 5 March 2008 on the granting or maintaining in force by the Hellenic Republic of rights in favour of Public Power Corporation S.A. for extraction of lignite (Infringement Procedure Nr. 2003/4428)
(Case AT.38700 — Greek lignite and electricity markets)
(notified under document C(2018) 2104)
(Only the Greek text is authentic)
(2018/C 245/03)

On 17 April 2018, the Commission adopted a decision relating to a proceeding under Article 106(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission herewith publishes the names of the parties and the main content of the decision, including any penalties imposed, having regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets.


(1)   

By Decision of 5 March 2008, the Commission found that the Hellenic Republic had infringed Article 106(1) in conjunction with Article 102 TFEU, to the extent that it granted and maintained privileged rights to PPC for the exploitation of lignite in Greece, thereby creating inequality of opportunity for PPC’s competitors as regards access to lignite-fired production of electricity and enabling PPC to maintain its dominant position on the Greek wholesale electricity market by excluding or hindering market entry by new-comers.



(2)   

By Decision of 4 August 2009, the Commission made binding a number of measures proposed by the Hellenic Republic with a view to ensure access by competitors of PPC to lignite-fired generation, by granting exploitation rights on four lignite deposits through tender procedures to entities other than PPC. The measures accepted by the Commission in the 2009 Decision have not been implemented by the Hellenic Republic, nor have been any alternative measures.



(3)   

By judgments of 15 December 2016, the General Court upheld the Commission Decisions of 2008 and 2009. In light of the current market circumstances, the implementation of remedies is still relevant. In order to increase competition in the Greek market, PPC’s competitors need to have access to base-load capacity, which in Greece is still significantly dependent on lignite, in particular during off-peak periods.



(4)   

On 1 December 2017, the Hellenic Republic proposed a new set of remedies to the Commission encompassing access to third parties to lignite-fired electricity generation, at the same time taking into account the changes in Greece’s environmental policy and the EU’s 2020 objectives to reduce CO2 emissions. The Commission market tested the remedies between 14 December 2017 and 5 January 2018. The Hellenic Republic submitted the final version of the remedies on 19 January 2018.



(5)   

Under the remedies made binding by the present Decision, the Hellenic Republic commits to procure PPC to divest three existing lignite-fired units together with the related mines and personnel. These remedies will allow increasing competition in the Greek wholesale electricity market through fair and equal access to existing lignite-fired electricity generation. At the same time, by divesting existing lignite-generation capacity and avoiding the further opening and exploitation of new lignite mines, the remedies also take into account Greece’s environmental targets and the EU’s 2020 objectives to reduce CO2 emissions.