9.7.2015

The Role of ACER will be a Key Element for the Achievement of the Energy Union

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ACER CONFER.2015-142.JPG
“The ultimate objective of the Energy Union is to bring affordable, secure, competitive and sustainable energy to all Europeans”, said EU Commission Vice-President for the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, at the IV ACER Annual Conference, ‘An Energy Union for Consumers’, today at the Brdo Congress Centre near Kranj, Slovenia. In order to achieve that, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Angel Arias Cañete, stressed three main elements: a new, modern market design; a new deal for consumers and the reinforcement of the role of ACER for further cooperation among National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and transmission system operators (TSOs).    In particular, Commissioner Arias Cañete said that the Commission plans to “reinforce ACER so it can carry out regulatory functions on the European level, oversee the gradual development of the internal energy market and deal with all cross-border issues”. “ACER could also be involved in the regulation and overview of both wholesale and retail markets as their convergence is inevitable within the next decade”, he added.   ACER and Final Consumers

Although the work of ACER is very much linked to wholesale markets and the so-called horizontal networks, the ultimate goal of the Agency is benefitting the 500 million energy consumers in the EU. The ACER Director said that the “Agency is ready to contribute to citizens taking ownership of the energy transition by engaging Consumers organisations in the overall development of the regulatory framework”, and announced that “later this year ACER will be holding its first dedicated Consumers Hearing”, so the Agency can present what it does from the specific perspective of energy consumers and take their feedback on board.   Within ACER’s initiative to increase the engagement of final consumers with its work, the Agency also announced today that a significant part of the information regarding the Agency’s activities is now available within its website in the 24 official languages of the Union. Moreover, with the assistance of NRAs, ACER is expanding the multilingual footprint of ACER citizen’s summaries (short briefings describing how specific aspects of ACER’s work benefit EU energy consumers).   Over 200 participants attended ACER’s 4th Annual Conference. The opening address was delivered by the Slovenian Minister for Infrastructure, Mr Peter Gašperšič. Following his intervention, participants listened to the strong support of the European Parliament to the work of ACER through a video message from Jerzy Buzek, President of the ITRE Committee. Furthermore, the Luxemburgish Chargée d’Affaires a.i. to Slovenia, H.E. Patricia Pommerell, illustrated the energy priorities of the EU Presidency. Other high-level speakers at the Conference included representatives of the Energy consumers’ associations and market participants. The sessions were moderated by Lord Mogg, Chair of ACER Board of Regulators, ACER Director, Alberto Pototschnig, and Mr Razvan Nicolescu, Chair of the ACER Administrative Board.   Access the Conference image gallery here. Read the press release on the Conference here.