The Energy Community,a Vienna-based international
energy policy organisation, said on Monday it has submitted a reasoned opinion
as the next step in a dispute settlement case against FYROM for its failure to
open its electricity market, requesting full market liberalisation in two
months.
In the opinion, the Energy Community's secretariat reiterated its
view that the amendments to the country’s energy law adopted in October deprive
small businesses and all household customers of their right to purchase
electricity directly from the supplier of their choice by obliging them to
continue purchasing electricity from the incumbent monopoly supplier after the
liberalisation deadline set in Energy Community law, the Energy community said
on its website.
"The postponement of full market liberalisation until
2020 represents a severe breach of the Treaty establishing the Energy Community.
Open electricity markets are of principal importance for the achievement of the
objectives of the internal energy market," the Energy Community said.
The
government justifies the postponement of the opening of the market by a risk of
“possible drastic increase of the prices of electricity for the households, it
added. "In reality, the argument related to potential “price shocks” seems to
address rather the intended protection of the incumbent’s liquidity than the
protection of household customers from “price shocks."
According to the
secretariat, the measure is essentially protectionist in nature as it has the
effect of shielding the incumbent supplier from any actual or potential
competition by prolonging its legal supply monopoly for a significant period of
time.
The statement quoted the director of the Energy Community
secretariat as saying that FYROM’s decision to postpone full opening of the
electricity market is another manifestation of the current government’s
deliberate policy of systematically refusing to accept the country’s obligations
under the Energy Community Treaty and, consequently, EU law.
"This trend
has recently become more and more visible and manifests itself in several open
breaches of Energy Community law, including among others also the non-acceptance
of a binding target for renewable energy and the failure to respect Second and
Third Energy Package rules in the gas sector when cooperating with Russian
partners," the director of the Energy Community Secretariat said.
"The current
problems in the energy sector mirror other problems of the country - the growing
politicization of state institutions and the dramatically deteriorated political
situation. What we witness is a growing isolation of the country from the
international community”.