EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR THE COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS ESTABLISHED

LJUBLJANA, March 3, 2011 – European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has established their headquarters in Ljubljana and thus formally assumed their responsibilities, the European Commission reported.

EU Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger said that the establishment of ACER represented a new start for cross-border cooperation between energy regulators, since a stronger and more efficient framework would be created.

The Agency has one of the key roles in electricity and natural gas market integration in Europe. The main ACER task is to supplement and coordinate the work of national regulators as well as to participate in the creation of European Network Codes.

ACER has the authorization to adopt binding decisions on dispute settlement related to access and operational stability of the cross-border electricity flow.

The EU Third Energy Package has assigned the Agency with a mandate to monitor energy market development. To that end, for several years to come, ACER will work on the adoption of around 20 Framework Guidelines for the development of Network Codes which will be mandatory for the EU members.

Mr. Alberto Pototschnig, an Italian energy expert was appointed the first Agency Director last year.