## 7 Regulatory Aspects  
One of the main obstacles to the smart grid development and diffusion is the lack of a precise regulatory environment [10]. In this section, we will illustrate the organisms and the activities made to support the development of the infrastructure in the European Union. In 2005, the European Technology Platform for Electricity Network of the Future (ETP) was instituted. Its mission was to develop a vision for a future electricity network over the entire European continent. In 2006, ETP released its first official document [60]. In the document, the vision of the new electricity network is given, defining it as  
* Flexible;
* Accessible;
* Reliable;
* Economic. It also stresses the importance of the liberalization of the electricity markets, in order to decrease prices and increase flexibility. It is a key point to ensure that consumers may choose their preferred energy provider at every time, according to their needs and economic situation. This also means that interoperability between different providers must be granted. In 2007, ETP released its second document [61], a non-prescriptive document for European and National programmes. It proposes a Framework for a research programme with the following goals:  
* develop smart grids in order to increase Europe's competitive position;
* increase collaboration between the Member States;
* set clear objectives for researchers. This document was basically meant to inspire R&D projects regarding smart grids within EU and national institutions. Their third and final document, the Strategic Deployment Document (SDD) [2] was firstly released as a draft in 2008, and later finalized in 2010. Its aim is to highlight the barriers against the smart grids, encouraging the Member States to eliminate them in order to fulfil the Sustainability Targets set for 2020 and 2050. It sets six Deployment Priorities:  
* Deployment Priority 1: Optimizing Grid Operation and Use;
* Deployment Priority 2: Optimizing Grid Infrastructure;
* Deployment Priority 3: Integrating Large Scale Intermittent Generation;
* Deployment Priority 4: Information & Communication Technology;
* Deployment Priority 5: Active Distribution Networks;
* Deployment Priority 6: New Market Places, Users & Energy Efficiency. This document also contained the key issues that compromise the development of a smart grid, mostly of a technical nature, and the Recommendations for the Member States, where it is clearly stated that  
_\"The European legislation for an open market in the electricity sector has been implemented in most Member and Associated States for several years. The resulting national legislation, however, varies andis fragmented. In particular, the degree of unbundling of network services from generation, supply and trading of electricity is still very diverse. Also, as a consequence of this, TSO and DSOs do not have clear incentives to evolve into service provider businesses. Harmonized regulation in the Member and Associated States is needed to speed up the necessary changes\"_[2]. Furthermore, the document suggests some funding options available to enable smart grid projects. Apart from the ETP, two other organisms have been instituted in the EU, to support the introduction of regulations for the implementation of the smart grids. In November 2009, the European Commission set up a Task Force on smart grids, composed of a Committee (SC) of high level representatives from European, institutional and market actors, including consumers, and one or more Expert Groups as decided by the SC. As stated in the Mission for the Task Force for the implementation of smart grids into the European Internal Market:  
_\"The mission of the Task Force smart grids is to advice the Commission on policy and regulatory directions at European level and to coordinate the first steps towards the implementation of smart grids under the provision of the Third Energy Package\"_[62].