The premise of public interest in the activities of the president of energy regulatory office and the president of the office of competition and consumer protection on the energy market

Abstract

Every action of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection [PL: Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów] must be taken in the public interest – the primary purpose of the antimonopoly regulation is to protect the business of entrepreneurs and consumers in the public interest. The President of the Energy Regulatory Office [PL: Urząd Regulacji Energetyki] is also governed by public interest activities. Under the applicable law, he is responsible for the development of competition, and one of his duties is to counteract the adverse effects of natural monopolies and balance the business of energy companies and fuel and energy consumers. In the Act on competition and consumer protection [PL: ustawa o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów], the notion of public interest is defined very generally. However, the Act on Energy Law [PL: ustawa – Prawo energetyczne] precisely specifies which elements shall be taken into account by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office each time when making a decision. A number of his activities aim to balance the business of energy security with the protection of energy companies’ business and consumers’ business, including issuing decisions on approval of tariffs. The President of the Energy Regulatory Office ensures the implementation of the public interest in this respect, and such interest cannot be understood differently by another regulatory authority under another act. Otherwise, a violation of the axiological coherence of the legal system occurs. In this particular context (in terms of the implementation of the public interest), priority should be given to the utility regulatory authority (the President of ERO) and not to the antimonopoly authority. However, in this case, we are not dealing with a contradiction of the wording of the provisions but with a potential contradiction in terms of the understanding and application of the public interest premise. Therefore, the provisions of utility acts constitute a lex specialis in this respect to the Act on competition and consumer protection – taking into account this particular approach, such contradiction does not occur. Consequently, it should be concluded that if a given action of the President of ERO (an administrative decision issuance) implemented the public interest by the Act (and was maintained in legal transactions, was not repealed, etc.), it thus excludes the possibility of taking action by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection which was based on the need to protect this public interest.