Drive for pan-European energy market

Moves to create a genuine pan-European energy market will be set out next week, in a new drive by Brussels to improve the continent's feeble cross-border gas and electricity networks.

Tougher regulation and planning rules are among measures intended to develop international links, connecting 27 essentially separate national energy markets.

The plans are part of an EU energy policy to be set out next Wednesday intended to create a more competitive market and to encourage the development of pan-European energy companies.

Key to the proposal is toughening up Europe's energy regulation: some national regulators are seen in Brussels as weak or too close to the major incumbent companies they supervise.

More European-level regulation would aim to create incentives for cross-border interconnectors and remove technical barriers, allowing foreign companies to take on national champions in their home market.

Energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs has set out three options for beefing up European regulation, including giving statutory teeth to Ergeg, the body representing national gas and electricity regulators.

Major energy companies such as Eon and EdF could also cede control over national power grids, increasing the incentive for networks to be extended across borders to rival companies.

Mr Piebalgs is expected to propose the appointment of "co-ordinators" to oversee the construction of cross-border pylons, cables and pipelines, and a new five-year planning approval limit for schemes deemed to be of "European interest".

Projects identified include the power link between Germany, Poland and Lithuania, connections to offshore wind power in northern Europe, electricity connections between France and Spain, and the Nabucco pipeline bringing gas from the Caspian to central Europe.

A blackout that in November plunged parts of western Europe into darkness, exposing weaknesses in the cross-border system and fears over adequate power production, has stiffened resolve in Brussels.