Legal Aspects of Further Strengthening the Competition in Retail Energy Markets

Abstract

The master thesis investigates the legal framework governing the active participation of final customers in the European Union's retail electricity markets. The research aims to analyze the sufficiency and efficiency of the current EU legislation, in particular, the Clean Energy Package (including Directive (EU) 2019/944 and Regulation (EU) 2019/943), in fostering a consumer engagement into electricity market. It examines the development of the "active customer" and "demand response" concepts, as well as barriers for consumer participation in demand response mechanism and regulatory measures to overcome these barriers. The results of the research demonstrate that while the EU acquis has introduced the legal status of active customers, the regulatory environment in Member States remains fragmented and often insufficient to achieve the Union's energy and climate goals. The research identifies significant barriers to market entry, including complex administrative procedures, limited access to consumption data, and inconsistent implementation of EU acquis across Member States. It concludes that EU institutions, in particular, EU DSO entity, ENTSO-E, ACER and European Commission shall, by means of assistance and control, ensure consistency of national legislation of EU Member States with EU acquis. These institutions shall also promote harmonization of local flexibility markets on the Union level to further strengthen competition and consumer participation in the retail energy sector.