A unique and thorough investigation of the shift towards Europe-wide energy regulation, markets and business strategies, and the extent to which energy systems have become more liberalised over this period. Reshaping of European Gas and Electricity Industries analyses the key issues facing the European energy industry, from a regulatory, market, and business perspective. Current challenges within the field are also reviewed, including competitive and environmental issues. - Liberalization: Delivers timely insights into the changes facing the European energy industry in the face of deregulation - Competition: A direct look at business and marketing strategies in response to the influx of competition from across the globe - Environment: Provides powerful [insights] into the way environmentally-based legislation has now become a key driver of the energy industry in Europe

In most network industries, new dynamics are leading to an unprecedented opening up to competition and private sector participation. With the development of a single European market, the in-stages liberalisation process of public utilities has spread to almost all sectors. However, the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector is considered somehow different and it has been excluded until recently from the restructuring processes achieved in other sectors. Water and Liberalisation: European Water Scenarios presents a better understanding of the specific demands of the WSS sector. Covering the operators' strategies, the regulatory dynamics as well as their interactions on the evolution of the sector, it addresses the likelihood, the nature, and the forms the WSS sector may take in Europe in the foreseeable future. Adopting a neutral political stance, the book analyses the implications of alternative scenarios in economic, ecological, social, legal, and institutional terms. Key sections include: In depth introduction to the current situation in the WSS sector; The European water supply and sanitation markets; The institutional framework of the water supply and sanitation sector in the EU: a comparative analysis; Analysis of the EU explicit and implicit policies and approaches in the sector; Analysis of the strategies of the water operators in Europe scenarios on the evolution of the water sector in Europe; Economic, environmental, & social implications of the scenarios; Major implications per scenario.

Network industries such as electricity, gas, rail, local public transport, telecommunications and postal services are recognised by the EU as crucial for fostering European social and territorial cohesion. Providing an overview of key policy reforms in these industries and an empirical evaluation, this thought-provoking book offers a critical perspective on the functioning of the networks that provide vital services to EU citizens.

This OECD Review of Regulatory Reform of Norway presents an overall picture, set within a macro-economic context, of regulatory achievements and challenges including regulatory quality, competition policy, and market openness.

A Critical Account of Article 106(2) TFEU: Government Failure in Public Service Provision offers a sceptical perspective on how EU law applies to public services. Article 106(2) provides that other Treaty rules may be disapplied in order to sustain a Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI). The rhetorical presentation of Article 106(2) is as a strict exception. As a result, Article 106(2) is often presented as a threat to Europe's public service tradition. This book challenges those shibboleths by using the concept of government failure. It is concerned with instances of government intervention that are unnecessary, generate avoidable inefficiencies, or that can be bettered so as to realise general interest goals more efficaciously. As an element of the government failure critique, a market feasibility test incorporating the concept of market failure is used to expose laxity in the review of general interests under Article 106(2). Complementing that, the process of disapplying other Treaty rules under Article 106(2) is shown to have evolved from being strict to being highly indulgent of SGEI providers, with a relatively recent but only partial correction post Altmark. Overall, the strict exception label for Article 106(2) does not hold. Moreover, it is contingent and presents no legitimate general interest related threat to the organisation and delivery of public services. A comprehensive re-orientation of Article 106(2) on issues of proof is required, as is greater reliance on market counterfactuals, and much more careful separation of objectives and means in SGEI operation and design. Through these measures, the toleration of government failure can be stemmed and Article 106(2)'s contingency reduced.

Throughout the book the authors aim to show how the market can function more efficiently and offer policy recommendations to show how regulatory reform can improve competitiveness at the firm level as well as performance at the industry, national and EU levels.