The European Energy Law Report II presents an overview of the most important legal developments in the field of EC and national energy law as discussed at the European Energy Law Seminar in 2004. The book covers four different areas of legal development. The first section concentrates on developments in EC law affecting the energy sector. It examines, inter alia, the new EU Constitution and the energy paragraph which has been included; the changes affecting the rules on antitrust and merger control as a result of which (energy) companies operating in the EU will increasingly face a network of competition authorities; the possibility for energy companies to collectively market their jointly produced gas; territorial restrictions in gas purchase contracts; access to pipeline infrastructure and merger control and climate change. The next section examines the evolution of energy regulators in the EU. Following the entry into force of Directive 2003/54/EC and Directive 2003/55/EC all member states are required to establish an energy regulator. The new directives also provide for the establishment of the European Energy Regulators Group (EERG). The question raised in this book is whether the EERG is a panacea for good governance. Another issue concerns the relationship between the EERG and the national regulators. The third section focuses on another possible consequence of liberalisation: the privatisation of network companies. Although the situation in the UK differs from other Member States as the liberalisation process is the result of an earlier privatisation, the UK experiences with the regulation of networks illustrate that privatisation not necessarily has a negative impact on the operations of the networks. Some member states, however, consider regulation as an insufficient instrument for safeguarding the networks and security of supply. The final section is dedicated to issues of gas trading. As gas trading is closely connected to the availability of sufficient infrastructure, two pipeline projects are discussed which are of importance for the UK as well as the EU gas market: the estsablishment of the Balgzand Bacton Line between the Netherlands and the UK and the Langeled pipeline from the Ormen Lange field on the Norwegian continental shelf to the UK. Then, the impact of the liberalisation process on upstream gas contracts in Norway is discussed. The abolishment of the system of joint gas sales and the establishment of an independent operator for all offshore gas pipelines has resulted in a new legal gas regime.
About the Author: Martha M. Roggenkamp is professor of Energy Law at the University of Groningen and Director of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law. She is also a board member of the Groningen Energy and Sustainability Program (GESP) and the coordinator of the North Sea Energy Law Program and the specialization 'Energy and Climate Law" in the LLM European Law. She has published widely on energy law issues since the early 1990s. She is the author of the monograph "Oil and Gas: Netherlands Law and Practice" (Chancery 1991) and "Het Juridisch Kader van Pijpleidingen in de Olie- en Gasindustrie" (PhD, Intersentia 1999). She is one of the co-editors of the book "Energy Law in Europe" (OUP 2003, 2007 and 2015), The Regulation of Power Exchanges in Europe (Intersentia 2004), the "European Energy Law Report I - X (Intersentia 2004-2014), "Legal Design of Carbon Capture and Storage-Developments in the Netherlands from an International and EU Perspective" (Intersentia 2009), "Energy Networks and the Law - Innovative Solutions in Changing Markets"(OUP 2012) and "Essential EU Climate Law"(Edgar Elgar forthcoming 2015). She also has the chair of the Dutch Association of Energy Lawyers and as a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Section on Energy, Environment and Infrastructure law of the IBA she has participated in several research projects covering issues such as "Security of Energy Supply," "Human Rights in the Energy Sector," "Reregulating the Energy and Natural Resources Sector" and "The Law of Energy Underground" (all published at OUP). In addition, she is editor in chief of the series Energy & Law published by Intersentia (Antwerp), member of the editorial board of the Dutch Journal of Energy Law and of the editorial committee of the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, the International Energy Law Review and the Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review.

Ulf Hammer has been Professor dr. juris at the University of Oslo, Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law since 2004. He is head of the Institute's Department of Petroleum and Energy Law. Before that he was Senior Executive Officer in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (1983-1988), Assistant Judge (1988-1990), Legal Counsel in Hydro (1990-1995) and Research Fellow, Researcher and Associate Professor at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law (1995-2004). He wrote his PhD thesis on the regulation of the Norwegian electricity market. He is co-author of several books on electricity law and petroleum law, and has published several articles on these topics.