European gas market liberalisation: Competition versus security of supply?

European gas market liberalisation. Competition versus security of supply?

A PhD thesis written by Nadine Haase

Summary

In 1998, the European gas market reform was introduced with the aim of completing the European internal market and enhancing the economic competitiveness of the European Union by promoting efficiency gains and affordable energy prices within the gas sector. Since the European Union had decided to perceive natural gas as a commodity, and to abandon the institutional logic that conceived the gas industry as a public utility, a massive restructuring of the European gas market and its related governance took place. This book enhances the understanding of this evolutionary multilevel process and the introduction of competition by means of regulation. The PhD thesis identifies the driving factors behind the failure of regulatory regimes to converge towards a European best-practice model and considers the effects of the new market design on economic performance in the gas market. A public regulation approach is applied that combines New Institutional Economics with recent regulatory studies to not only capture classical economic performance indicators but also to account for objectives related to public service such as security of gas supply. The conceptual framework, and its empirical application, demonstrates that at least two distinct institutional logics are present and responsible for the lack of convergence of regulatory regimes towards the European best-practice model, which the European gas reform had envisaged. Both the quantitative and the qualitative analyses undertaken suggest that the objective of security of gas supply is gaining greater importance vis-à-vis competition in the regulatory choices of European member states.

About the author

In the context of her PhD research, Nadine was visiting fellow at the Gas Programme of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where she published an earlier version of her quantitative research, assessing the convergence of regulatory regimes in European gas markets. Her research was presented at several international conferences, and Nadine obtained a number of scholarships supporting her research activities, amongst others from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Netherlands Institute of Government, or the International Association of Energy Economics.

The PhD Defence

Nadine’s PhD defence is scheduled on 18 June 2009 at 14:45 in building De Spiegel of the University of Twente. The PhD thesis will be published jointly by CSTM and the Groningen-based Energy Delta Institute (EDI), a research institute and international business school for energy. The PhD thesis titled “European gas market liberalisation. Competition versus security of supply?” will be available at the EDI after the defence in June 2009 (http://www.energydelta.nl/). Free copies will be available for those who wish to write a book review for a journal.

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<< MB Home Home News & Events News Archive Staff Education Research Studies & Reports (pdf) Publication List Partners Contact Sitemap Search	News Archive European gas market liberalisation: Competition versus security of supply? European gas market liberalisation. Competition versus security of supply? *A PhD thesis written by Nadine Haase* Summary In 1998, the European gas market reform was introduced with the aim of completing the European internal market and enhancing the economic competitiveness of the European Union by promoting efficiency gains and affordable energy prices within the gas sector. Since the European Union had decided to perceive natural gas as a commodity, and to abandon the institutional logic that conceived the gas industry as a public utility, a massive restructuring of the European gas market and its related governance took place. This book enhances the understanding of this evolutionary multilevel process and the introduction of competition by means of regulation. The PhD thesis identifies the driving factors behind the failure of regulatory regimes to converge towards a European best-practice model and considers the effects of the new market design on economic performance in the gas market. A public regulation approach is applied that combines New Institutional Economics with recent regulatory studies to not only capture classical economic performance indicators but also to account for objectives related to public service such as security of gas supply. The conceptual framework, and its empirical application, demonstrates that at least two distinct institutional logics are present and responsible for the lack of convergence of regulatory regimes towards the European best-practice model, which the European gas reform had envisaged. Both the quantitative and the qualitative analyses undertaken suggest that the objective of security of gas supply is gaining greater importance vis-à-vis competition in the regulatory choices of European member states. About the author In the context of her PhD research, Nadine was visiting fellow at the Gas Programme of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where she published an earlier version of her quantitative research, assessing the convergence of regulatory regimes in European gas markets. Her research was presented at several international conferences, and Nadine obtained a number of scholarships supporting her research activities, amongst others from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Netherlands Institute of Government, or the International Association of Energy Economics. The PhD Defence Nadine’s PhD defence is scheduled on 18 June 2009 at 14:45 in building De Spiegel of the University of Twente. The PhD thesis will be published jointly by CSTM and the Groningen-based Energy Delta Institute (EDI), a research institute and international business school for energy. The PhD thesis titled “European gas market liberalisation. Competition versus security of supply?” will be available at the EDI after the defence in June 2009 (http://www.energydelta.nl/). Free copies will be available for those who wish to write a book review for a journal.