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Free Movement of Electricity and the Revival of System Stability Justifications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Abstract

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EU Member States have in recent years designed national schemes to support the development of renewable energy. For example, in systems of feed-in-tariffs the states guarantee for a given period of time plants generating electricity from renewable resources the market price plus a premium. These feed-in-tariffs have normally only been awarded to electricity generated in-state. The preference given to in-state industry has been challenged in court as contradicting the principle non-discrimination on the European internal market. The decision by national legislatures to limit the availability of feed-in-tariffs to electricity generated in-state, however, has—to the surprise of many—been found justifiable by the European Court of Justice. This Article illustrates how the objective to ensure system stability has emerged as the strongest ground of justification in the context of cross-border electricity trade and how similar arguments have actually been used previously in the context of the health care service sector. While the reasoning of the court is defendable, the court could have developed an even more nuanced and informative position if it had taken notice of additional aspects that have popped up in the U.S. debate on similar questions.

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Articles
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Copyright © 2017 by German Law Journal, Inc. 

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