First Assessment of the Romanian Energy Regulator

A decade ago, a major change in EU’s vision for the European energy sector took
place. Before, it seemed acceptable that national energy markets are virtually
segregated and dominated by national champions, vertically integrated state
monopolies. But this is in contradiction with the goal to have an Internal EU market,
and with the consumer’s interests, deprived of choice. The new plan was to
introduce in both electricity and gas as much “market” as possible: separate
monopolies from competitive activities, enhance competition in wholesale and retail
markets, including cross-border connections, with the ultimate goal to give the
consumer a choice and improve security of supply. But the new roles of energy
sector players required also a new regulatory framework: independent national
regulators were set up to ensure suppliers and networks operate correctly and
provide services promised to customers.