Consumers Commissioner Meglena Kuneva called for including consumers into the EU's plan to liberalise the energy market. Even the best ideas regarding liberalisation cannot work in practice if they are not supported by the citizens, Kuneva told participants of a conference held at the Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday.
The challenges faced by the EU energy sector are an incentive for EU institutions to find tangible solutions to benefit EU citizens, Kuneva said on European Competition and Consumer Day.
The commissioner supports endeavours to bolster competition in the energy sector as she sees it as instrumental in securing benefits to consumers.
The third package of the liberalisation is an excellent opportunity to prove that the EU can be competitive and market-oriented while at the same time considering the needs of the consumers, she added.
Slovenian Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak said that the EU energy sector was facing numerous challenges, such as high energy prices, energy supply security, fight against climate change and fully operational single energy market.
The chair of the EU Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council added that the situation on the EU energy market was not satisfactory as regards the level of competitiveness.
Despite the ostensibly functioning market and liberalisation efforts, numerous obstacles exist in the EU for the functioning of the market.
These include powerful energy companies that prevent the entry of new suppliers and the lack of cross-border capabilities.
According to Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition, the Commission and the EU have the mission to find a solution for the energy sector in order to eliminate the issues that the Commission unveiled in its survey of the energy industry.
Vizjak also commented on the recently unveiled compromise solution on the decoupling of energy production and distribution. The non-paper, drafted by the Slovenian presidency, would allow operators to control power generation and distribution, but with completely separate management.
Vizjak said he hoped the political agreement on decoupling would be reached before the end of the Slovenian EU presidency.
While the minister supports decoupling, he has nothing against big and powerful players. "I do, however, oppose their power to be abused for bolstering their market position at the expense of the consumer."
After the conference, Kuneva visited the Slovenian parliament for talks with the head of the parliament EU Affairs Committee Anton Kokalj and the chair of the Economy Committee Feri Horvat.
It is necessary to guarantee that the markets work in our favour, said Kuneva after the talks, the main message of which was that "Europe cares" about consumer. She sees the single market as a market for citizens and not for large companies.
Kuneva also welcomed the efforts of the Slovenian EU presidency in consumer protection as well as the third package of the energy market liberalisation.
Horvat said he informed the commissioner about the activities of the Slovenia parliament in consumer protection, including several recently passed pieces of legislation.
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