OREANDA-NEWS. October 10, 2013. FAS and OECD Regional Competition Center in Hungary organized a Round Table on “Developing Competition on the Electric Power Markets”, which took place in the Resource-and-Training Centre of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Kazan.

Participants of the Round Table discussed measures for suppressing violations of competitive conditions on the electric power markets. The key speakers were Raquel Tarrega Lopez and Karoly Nagy from the European Commission, who highlighted the issue of market force and abusing dominant position on the electric power markets.

In her report on possible measures for suppressing violations of competitive conditions on the electric power markets, Raquel Tarrega Lopez paid special attention to the measures on eliminating the consequences of mergers and acquisitions, their justification and complexities.

“Such measures must completely eliminate the problem of violating competitive conditions, but must be proportionate to its complexity. They must be oriented towards the future and their impact upon the conditions of competition depends on their enforcement and on the market situation”, emphasized Raquel Tarrega Lopez.

Summing up, Raquel Tarrega Lopez pointed out: “Efficiency and effectiveness of obligations remain the principal priority of the Commission policy with regard to the measures for suppressing violations of competitive conditions”.

There was also a presentation on “Approaches to Regulating Electric Power Market in Holland” given by a representative of the competition authority of the Netherlands Debby van der Pluijm who stated that “the goal is to facilitate expanding the choice and opportunities for companies and consumers.

Debby van der Pluijm shared experience of the Netherlands’ competition authority in price regulation and setting the tariffs for electric power transmission with the workshop participants.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets combines the functions for competition protection, tariff regulation and consumer rights protection. The tariffs are regulated for the electric power industry, gas sector, telecommunications, post and transport. The Authority applies modern methods of tariff setting based on the market analyses. For instance, the method of tariff classification for comparable markets in the electric power industry has been used since 2001.

“Market regulation resulted in decreased retail prices”, summed up the speaker. “At the same time the product quality remains high”.

The last presentation on the second day of the workshop was given by a representative of Moldova’s competition authority.

The workshop continued on 3rd October 2013. Experts discussed specifics of antimonopoly regulation and control over the wholesale market of electric power and capacity. Deputy Head of the Second Directorate for Enquiries and Investigations, the Head of the Department for Oil and Oil Products of Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee, Vladislav Dutka presented a situational analysis for Ukraine.

The workshop participants included the heads and experts of the antimonopoly authorities of Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and other CIS member –states and representatives of the Commission of European Communities.