The Regulatory Scope of the Austrian Legislator for System Charges after the ECJ judgement C-718/18 (Comission/Germany), 02.09.2021

Abstract

The ECJ has issued a groundbreaking ruling on the regulatory competence of national regulators in the electricity and gas sector. The court empathized the “complete and effective independence” and “exclusive powers” of national regulators. EU law provides a “detailed legislative framework” for tariffs and methodologies, leaving almost no room for national legislators to regulate this field. Although Directive 2009/72/EC and Regulation 2009/714/EC meanwhile expired, the rules are continued and extended by Directive 2019/944/EU and, in particular, Regulation 2019/943/EU. The core statements of the ruling remain valid.