Decision No.20: Action Plan on the Formation of the Common Electric Energy Market of the EEU
Name and Surname: Anastassiya Fershtey
Date: January 23rd, 2018
Word count: 429
Research Task One: Primary Legislative Acts
Document:
Act: Decision no. 20
Institution: Supreme Eurasian Economic Council
Title: Action Plan on the Formation of the Common Electric Energy Market of the EEU
Commentary:
Essentially, the document is a set of steps the member steps are to make on their way to the common electric energy market (further – ). The aim of the Action Plan is to create favorable legislative, institutional and technological conditions for the future of the market. Among the important the Action Plan refers to are the principles of the regulation of the market, such as the antimonopoly regulation, price-building, tariffs policy – they are all said to be articulated in the Attachment no. 21 to the EEU Treaty dated by May 29th, 2014. The section no. 8 of the Action Plan refers to the system of acts which includes the rules of the mutual trade as well as the rules of the information exchange among others. Although the Attachment of the Plan entrusts the realization of the Action Plan to member states and its monitoring to the Commission, the document is non-binding in nature.
What is important, the section no. 1 of the Action Plan sets up the events’ agenda in three specific stages with the respective deadlines. Whereas the creation of the respective legislative and institutional conditions mentioned in II not as costly, the creation of the technological basis of the market may entail certain costs. The common technological basis implies it should meet some mutually agreed standard, thus, requires a financial input into this sphere by member states. Therefore, the 2nd half of 2018 – first half of 2019 as the deadline for the Stage III, i.e. the full realization of the well-functioning technological basis, seems a bit too optimistic.
Moreover, it should be noted that the price for electricity among the member states may be slightly different due to the difference in the costs of production, e.g. due to coal energy vs. water energy costs’ difference. Each member state may have a certain degree of leverage within the energy sphere as a result of the possession of types of natural resources and of different quality and efficiency. Consequently, the agreement on common prices and tariffs may not be achieved without certain difficulties and disagreements.
Nevertheless, the Action Plan aiming that high (the common electric energy market) should not come as a surprise. The Plan itself refers to already existing Agreement of the CIS countries about the parallel functioning of electric energy systems of member states dated by November 25th, 1998. The fact of the matter is, therefore, the rearrangement of previously existing agreements into a more coherent and coordinated system, as well as the creation of a more sophisticated technological basis.