The Interplay between the European Commission, Member States and Utilities in the Debate on Transmission Network Unbundling

A long debate among European Commission and Member States brought to the final approval of the third package on energy (June 2009). This work firstly introduces an overview of the principal acts and positions of the major players involved in the decision making process of the third package. Three different scenarios or models are suggested, according to the scholars’ suggestions, to interpretate the debate: a pure pro-market model, capture by lobbies of hybridised utilities or a struggle for geopolitical supremacy. Afterwards these models are checked on the base of the main positions and comments of the EC members, the MS and the Utilities, as emerged from an analysis of documents, press releases, interviews and articles across 2007 and 2008. Conclusions point out that the debate on unbundling can be interpreted as a struggle for supremacy, because the EC which aims at a stronger role inside and outside its borders on energy policy. Integration of energy markets can be considered as a first step for the centralization of energy policy: afterwards, the essential role of energy for the development of the contemporary society will increase the EU polity’s importance respect to national states.