3 Selected topics in Energy Law with Fundamental Rights implications
The focus here will be on areas raising issues which are (relatively) particular to the energy sector. Thus, some examples readily identifiable from the table (in 2.1, above) will not be examined separately here, since they raise questions largely identical to those arising in that area generally: e.g. in EU merger control law, the issue of divestment as a condition of merger clearance will always raise questions of property rights, business freedom and the proportionality of a Commission decision to require sale of assets, etc. The same applies to the possibility of structural remedies under Articles 101 and/or 102 TFEU, in conjunction with Regulation 1/2003/EC, and to the general procedural questions arising in competition and State aid law (hearings, rights of the defence, access to justice, etc.).
Below, an outline diagram (Diagram 1, annexed at the end of this chapter) is reproduced which seeks to set out the basic structure of energy networks, business links, etc., using the electricity supply industry as the example: the idea of this is to help to illustrate the context in which sections 3.1 and 3.2 below raise issues of EU trade, competition and of course fundamental rights law.