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Romanian PM: Govt to deregulate energy market according to calendar

Romania's Government will deregulate its energy market by 2015, following a calendar agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Wednesday.

Last week, the European Commission asked Romania to bring its national legislation on regulated end-user energy prices in line with European Union rules. The Commission also initiated infringement procedures against Italy and Poland, on the same causes.

'According to the internal energy market rules all companies must have the possibility to freely provide services all over the EU and set their own prices which reflect the real situation on the markets. Regulated prices distort the functioning of the market, defining prices which do not reflect the real needs of the market and prevent free competition and market integration. Thus, it maintains a monopolistic situation which leads to either underinvestment or unnecessary high prices,' the Commission noted in a news release.

Should the states in question fail to comply within two months, the Commission will refer their cases to the Court of Justice.Boc said in February that the Finance Ministry and the Labor Ministry will define the category of vulnerable consumers and will create mechanisms to protect these consumers, as gas and energy prices increase between 2013 and 2015.

Romanian PM Asks Whether Fuel Prices Can Be Frozen

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has asked the Competition Council and Department for European Affairs to check whether fuel prices can be frozen in Romania on the basis of a law providing such an exception, but adopted before joining the European Union.Boc said the two bodies will investigate whether this law is compatible with EU norms.

The Competition Council's investigation of the local fuel market should be complete in the first half of the year, and the results will be sent to the European Commission, the authority's president Bogdan Chiritoiu said Tuesday.He said that a law adopted before Romania joined the EU allows freezing fuel prices in exceptional circumstances, but an evaluation is required to see whether the market is in such a situation.

'We expect the investigation to be complete by mid-2011, and after we send it to the European Commission, we will have a reaction from them and hear out all parties involved. After that, we will make a decision,' Chiritoiu told a news conference.However, Chiritoiu added, the Romanian Competition Council cannot interfere with prices in the market, and it can only ensure the efficient functioning of markets, where companies set prices on their own.The fuel market investigation started in 2005, and it was refreshed in 2009 when the case team was changed.

A government report, revealed in January, said pump prices were groundlessly raised throughout 2010, while almost all the local oil companies reported significant losses for 2010 and their real profits were not reflected accordingly. Boc called for inspections by the tax and competition authorities targeting the oil companies.

Sursa: http://www.actmedia.eu

Tags: prices market competition commission european energy romanian

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