ORGANISATION

Refining Market Design

SESSA evaluates different European market designs and discusses how these market designs may achieve both the creation of competitive markets and a sustainable European energy system.

Addressing Market Power and Industry Restructuring for Consumers Benefits

SESSA assesses market power and industry restructuring by elaborating on the following topics : EU electricity structure, companies' behaviour, retail competition, strategic interactions between gas and electricity, competition law and enforcement.

Ensuring EU Enlargement to New Member States

SESSA examines EU enlargement to new Member States from an energy sustainability perspective. It reviews the current state of transposition and harmonisation (e.g. in restructuring the industry, creating markets and a competitive regulation as well as enhancing energy efficiency, reducing pollutant emissions and protecting the environment) and the changes planned for the coming years.

Harmonising an Effective Regulation

SESSA reviews the policy instruments for implementing an effective regulation in favour of sustainability and for harmonising the national and the European levels of regulation in particular in reviewing and analysing : the regulatory basis of markets interaction and coordination, the fine-tuning of regulatory and market-based instruments, the regulatory support for a sustainable energy supply and the institutional design of European regulation.

Investing for Sustainability

SESSA examines long term policy issues related to energy sustainability (1) on the supply side (investments in generation and in networks both for capacity and more environment friendly technologies) and (2) on the demand side (incentives for energy efficiency and renewable uses).

An international conference will be organised on each topic. In addition, a research programme will be conducted on benchmarking and best practices in the electricity sector.

The SESSA forum will be concluded in Fall 2005 by final conferences in Rome and Brussels.