Programme
Monday 25 January 2021 - 12.00 - 13.30 CET
WEBINAR #1 - BATTERIES, THE NEW AIRBUS : IS COMPETITION LAW AN OBSTACLE FOR CREATING CHAMPIONS ?
Philip ANDREWS-SPEED | Senior Principal Research Fellow, Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore (bio)
Marc ISABELLE | Director, European Economics, Paris (bio)
Bernd MEYRING | Partner, Linklaters, Brussels (bio)
Valeska GOTTKE | Head of Communications and Markets, German Energy Storage Association (BVES), Berlin (bio)
Chair : Dirk BUSCHLE | Deputy director, Legal counsel, Energy Community Secretariat, Vienna (bio)
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Wednesday 27 January 2021 - 15.30 - 17.00 CET
WEBINAR #2 - ENERGY TRANSITION : CLIMATE POLICY, SECURITY OF SUPPLY, COAL & HYDROGEN PROJECTS…
Tonja LEACH | Executive Director, QUEST Canada, Ottawa (bio)
Anes KAZAGIC | Head of Strategic Development, EPBiH, Sarajevo (bio)
Tilman KUHN | Partner, White & Case, Düsseldorf/Brussels (bio)
Chair : Marie-Therese RICHTER-KUHNERT | Energy lawyer, Energy Community Secretariat, Vienna (bio)
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Friday 29 January 2021 - 13.30 - 15.00 CET
WEBINAR #3 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATE AID GUIDELINES UNDER REVIEW
Juliette DELARUE | Lawyer State Aid, ClientEarth, Brussels (bio)
Leigh HANCHER | Professor, University of Tilburg and Florence School of Regulation | Senior Advisor, Baker Botts (bio)
Marc ISABELLE | Director, European Economics, Paris (bio)
Nicola PESARESI | Head of Unit, Markets and cases I : Energy and Environment, DG COMP, Brussels (bio)
Chair : James WEBBER | Partner, Shearman & Sterling, Brussels/London (bio)
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Panel descriptions
WEBINAR #1 - Batteries, the new Airbus – Is competition law an obstacle for creating champions ?
Monday 25 January 2021, 12:00-13:30 CET
Innovation in and scaling up of battery production are preconditions for the European Green Deal to succeed. Decarbonization of the transport sector and system flexibility in a power system increasingly depending on volatile renewable resources crucially relies on batteries. The market for battery production is dominated largely by Asian producers. While free traders may simply regard this as an illustration of David Ricardo’s concept of comparative advantage, the promotors of a strategic autonomy for Europe do not leave it at that. Catching up and reducing dependencies has been on the agenda already under the Juncker Commission when the European Battery Alliance was launched. This has boosted the development of a number of joint ventures and allows for the granting of compatible aid under the IPCEI label (Important Projects of Common European Interest). The initiative’s declared aim is that production in the EU will match demand by 2025.
European industrial policy firming up in the energy sector – another strategic decarbonziation asset, hydrogen, is to follow suit – raises a wide range of questions : Will Europe be able to achieve its objective, and at what cost ? What would be the price of failure ? To what extent can such initiatives make up for the absence of a level-playing field in global trade rules ? And do competition and State aid rules need to compromise ?
The session will be moderated by Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director at the Energy Community Secretariat and Chairholder of the Iberdrola Manuel Marin Chair for Euroepan Energy Policy at the College of Europe.
WEBINAR #2 - ENERGY TRANSITION : CLIMATE POLICY, SECURITY OF SUPPLY, COAL & HYDROGEN PROJECTS…
Wednesday 27 January 2021, 15:30-17:00 CET
The topic of energy transition plays a role in the development of the climate policy, discussions about security of supply and the development of “old” and “new” energy technologies, such as coal and hydrogen.
Energy transition can be defined as a significant structural change in the energy system. Such changes have happened before, but the current transition to renewable and sustainable energy is significantly driven by the aim to reduce global carbon emissions and therefore constitutes a clear political decision induced by climate policy. Therefore, the question arises as to whether legal provisions, such as competition and State aid law, have to follow this political decision and be bent to fit and foster that purpose. Is competition and state aid law used to serve this all-green- purpose ? Or is it a set of neutral rules that puts the same limits to all industries and sectors ?
So today, the term and the general policy towards energy transition is clearly connoted as a green revolution. It is meant to align with the climate policy and ensure security of supply without dependency. It is meant to be all pro-renewables and e.g. hydrogen and all con coal and fossil fuels generally. But is this political decision supported by the legal framework and ultimately by citizens ? How can it be ensured that the energy transition does not come at a cost for the integrity of legal provisions and for the communities and citizens ?
The session will be moderated by Marie-Therese Richter-Kuhnert, Energy and Competition Lawyer at the Energy Community Secretariat.
WEBINAR #3 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATE AID GUIDELINES UNDER REVIEW
Friday 29 January 2021 - 13.30 - 15.00 CET
This webinar will focus on the State aid rules and how they can support (or hinder) energy transition. Nicola Pesaresi can help us put the recently closed consultation on the EEAG into context – what the Commission is trying to achieve and how the EEAG reform fits into the overall green deal picture. Leigh Hancher will focus on the role of nuclear energy – and more broadly on the lessons for compatibility guidelines such as the EEAG following the Court of Justice’s judgment in Hinkley Point C. Juliette Delarue from NGO Client Earth will emphasise the sustainability priorities of the State aid assessment, the ways in which the current regime does not always do this and what ClientEarth’s priorities for the new EEAG are. Lastly, Marc Isabelle (European Economics) will talk to the tension with European strategic autonomy and how State aid conditionality helps or hinders the environmentally-focused IPCEI.
CONCURRENCES ARTICLES
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Organisateurs
The Energy Community Forum dedicated to Competition Law in the Energy Sector is organised by Concurrences and the Energy Community Secretariat with the support of panel and media sponsors. Please register for the webinar of each panel. These webinars are open to all without fee/cost. The list of attendees will be communicated to the speakers.
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