C-718/18 Commission v. Germany: Critical Reflections on the Independence of National Regulatory Authorities in EU Energy Law

Abstract

EU energy law requires that national regulatory authorities (NRAs), which carry out key tasks in the energy sector, be independent. Such independence is considered essential to ensure that NRAs’ performance of their tasks is protected from shortterm political pressure, enabling the achievement of the EU’s long-term objectives in the energy sector. However, it also means that there is less oversight over what the NRAs do and how they perform their tasks, which underlines the need for a robust legal framework to ensure their legitimacy and accountability. This article critically assesses the NRAs’ independence requirement in the light of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU’s) recent ruling in C-718/18 Commission v. Germany and utilizes the NRAs’ power to fix or approve energy network tariffs or tariff methodologies as an illustrative example of the powers they enjoy in EU Member States. EU energy law, national regulatory authority, independence, network tariffs, electricity, Electricity Directive, Electricity Regulation, legal reasoning