A bid by the European Union to increase competition in its energy markets largely failed, but officials are pursuing a similar goal by using the EU's antitrust powers.
The EU's executive arm proposed in 2007 to step up competition in electricity and natural-gas markets, and bring down prices, by forcing dominant companies such as Electricite de France SA and Italy's Eni SpA to sell their pipelines and electricity grids to separate companies. That was a step too far for some governments, including France and Germany, which led a campaign to protect their national utilities.
In a compromise struck in the European Parliament last week, providers' distribution networks could be left intact, and countries would instead create new oversight bodies to try to ensure equal access to power networks. That must be approved by EU countries and the parliament.
But in March, the European Commission's antitrust team -- known for its challenge of the access given rivals by Microsoft Corp. -- accused Eni of a long list of violations. If confirmed, Eni has said the commission will seek a fine and force it to sell its interests in companies that own and operate the pipelines. Eni has until mid-May to respond to the charges.
Some energy companies already have offered to sell parts of their networks in a bid to avoid fines. Germany's largest utility, E.ON AG, offered to sell its high-voltage power grid and about 5,000 megawatts of capacity after the commission accused it of withdrawing capacity to keep prices high. Another German firm, RWE AG, pledged to sell its natural-gas network after the commission investigated allegations that RWE restricted access to its transmission network and charged artificially high rates to rivals.
The EU is "very capable of using antitrust rules to reach liberalization goals," said Wim Vandenberghe, an energy lawyer at DLA Piper in Brussels.
Antitrust action has limits: Probes are pursued case by case. But "the companies are clearly on notice that they are being watched," said Michael Pollitt, of the University of Cambridge's Electricity Policy Research Group.