Long-term Energy Sale Contracts and Market Liberalisation in New EU Member States - Are They Compatible?
Article from: OGEL 4 (2006), in Pipelines
Introduction
For many years, the task of bringing electricity and gas to the European consumer has been carried out by national and regional utilities which have frequently benefited from de jure or de facto monopolies in respect of their activities. Whether the advantages of such monopolies outweigh their drawbacks or vice versa has, as the reader is no doubt aware, been the subject of intense debate. It seems undeniable, however, that the existence of monopolies of transport, distribution and sale of electricity or gas has facilitated long-term planning on the part of entities enjoying such ...