Electricity

Vienna Forum on European Energy Law unites leading energy experts

Published

March 16, 2015

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

March 16, 2015

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The 3rd Vienna Forum on European Energy Law took place at the premises of the Energy Community Secretariat on March 13. The forum, which is a joint initiative between the Florence School of Regulation and the Energy Community Secretariat, brought together over 140 experts from energy companies, regulators, governments, academia and legal firms.

The motto of this year’s forum was ‘Markets and Crisis’. The programme included an analysis of the market design for renewable energy, a focus on the energy hotspot – Ukraine, a debate on the Energy Union as well as a review of enforcement in the Energy Community.

In a keynote speech, professor Helmut Schmitt von Sydow, who chaired the intergovernmental conference that negotiated the Energy Community Treaty, retraced the creation of the community. He argued that in many ways the Energy Community Treaty is more advanced than the EU’s treaties, e. g. its mutual assistance clause in case of energy crisis and flexibility in terms of accepting new members. Yet the treaty also has its weaknesses, including the absence of provisions on investment and an inadequate dispute settlement mechanism.

Experts discussed options to improve law enforcement in the Energy Community, including the creation of a regional court of justice of the Energy Community versus using arbitration tribunals. The former was preferred as arbitration was generally very costly and a regional court could deal not just with infringement cases but also have jurisdiction over direct actions against the legally binding measures taken by the Energy Community institutions and preliminary references for national courts of the Contracting Parties.

 

Related Articles

serbia naled CBAM analysis jobs

NALED urges action to protect jobs at energy-intensive industries threatened by CBAM

13 June 2025 - The National Alliance for Local Economic Development has called on the state to introduce measures to protect energy-intensive industries

serbia suncarlito beta solar token subotica solar power plant

SunCarlito Beta issues tokens to raise funds for 2.2 MW solar power plant in Serbia

13 June 2025 - Investors can buy 3,402 tokens called Solar Token ST_1, priced at EUR 500 each. The deadline to purchase the tokens is July 9

nuclear power plant reactor edf france

French power prices jump as EDF looks into possible nuclear reactor defect

12 June 2025 - France’s state-owned power utility EDF is investigating apparent corrosion cracks found at the Civaux 2 nuclear reactor.

nuclear power plant world bank

World Bank to back nuclear projects again amid rising electricity needs

12 June 2025 - The World Bank would support projects to extend the life of existing nuclear power plants and speed up the rollout of small modular reactors.