COJEF II ConferenceCo-operation with consumer organisations - presentation of the recommendations by CEER

Dirk Van Evercooren, CEER21 April 2015, Brussels

PRESENTING CEER (AND ACER)

21/04/23

3

Introduction to CEER

Members from:All 28 EU Member States

+

Iceland and Norway

Observers from:Switzerland

+ Former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia (FYROM) +

Montenegro

4

Members

5

• Seven Working Groups and three ‘Virtual’ Policy Units, composed of regulators’ staff and the CEER Secretariat

1.3 Internal Structure

6

Introduction to ACER

7

2.2 Internal Structure

Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators

What is ACER?•EU Agency for EU Member States -> has its own staff and resources in Ljubljana, Slovenia•NRAs volunteer significant resources to preparing ACER’s work

 What are ACER’s main policy objectives and tasks? •Integrated EU internal energy market (EU-wide Network Codes; Framework Guidelines for developing the regulatory framework for cross-border market arrangements; Regional Initiatives)•An efficient cross-border energy infrastructure•Transparency in the energy market (market monitoring tasks)

CEER and ACER

A complementary approach to energy regulation in Europe: •ACER: statutory tasks related to cross-border market development and oversight

•CEER: broader variety of issues (e.g. customer rights, sustainable development and climate change, technological development of electricity and gas networks), and a broader vision of Europe’s energy landscape both within and beyond EU borders (e.g. CEER’s international work)

CEER works closely with and supports the work of ACER

Some core CEER Activities

• Developing policy proposals (e.g. advice, guidelines, position papers)

• Analysing the state of play in different European countries on specific energy topics (e.g. benchmarking, monitoring reports), promoting the European objectives for the achievement of an internal energy market

• Continuous stakeholder dialogue such as consumer associations, industry associations, EU Institutions

• Participation in the political debate and EU initiatives (e.g. EC working groups on vulnerable consumers; price transparency; smart grids; standardisation activities)

CEER-BEUC2020 Energy Customer Vision

A step-by-step approach

What is our Vision?

•An energy sector that:►puts customerscustomers first►engages with and understands the diverse needs of diverse needs of

customerscustomers►delivers servicesservices that meet those needs ►anticipates future needs future needs ►takes steps to protectprotect the interests of future future

customerscustomers►that uses resources efficientlyresources efficiently, and ►offers all customers a fair deala fair deal

4 principles: RASP

The Vision and its supporters

• In November 2012 the Vision became a joint CEER-BEUC statement supported by 16 European and international organisations:

► Alternative Dispute Resolution bodies► Industry► Retailers► DSO-organisations► …

•The Vision supporters are joining efforts with CEER and BEUC to implement the vision

CEER Advice on How to Involve and Engage Consumer Organisations in the Regulatory Process

New CEER Advice

CEER Advice on How to Involve and Engage Consumer Organisations in the Regulatory Process

Ref: C14-CEM-74-07

Published: 12 March 2015

21/04/23

Citizens’ Energy Forum (I)

• 7th meeting of the Citizens’ Energy Forum, 12-13 March 2015

• Conclusions includes numerous explicit references to energy regulators’ work and to the role of consumers:

► [the Forum] Calls on the Commission, the Regulators and the Member States to work towards further improvements in the design and operation of energy markets, including through measures to remove entry barriers, enable an increase in system flexibility and ensure the continued effectiveness and enforcement of consumer protection, especially against unfair selling practices.

► [the Forum] Encourages ACER and CEER to pursue vigorously their market monitoring work.

► [the Forum] Welcomes the holistic analysis and key proposals set out in the Regulator's "Energy Regulation, a bridge to 2025" in particular as regards regulators' commitment to establishing common criteria for a well-functioning retail market and to develop a Roadmap aimed at competitive, reliable and innovative retail markets

18

Citizens’ Energy Forum (II)

•London Forum’s Conclusions 2015:► [the Forum] Calls on the Commission to establish a structured and

transparent cooperation process between energy regulators and consumer authorities possibly via the Consumer Protection Cooperation network. NEW

► [the Forum] Invites consumer bodies and regulators to continue their joint efforts to strengthen the consumer awareness and voice in the energy regulatory process as recommended for example in CEER’s advice on how to involve and engage consumer organisations in this process

► [the Forum] Recommends that new and traditional market actors and sales channels be subject to adequate regulatory oversight especially in terms of transparency in order to ensure consumer trust. NEW

19

Regulatory tasks

17/12/2013

The 3rd Energy Package assigns the task of monitoring the energy market to NRAs

•Market monitoring should be complemented by asking for the customers’ (and consumer organisations’) experiences

•Developing better regulation should also be based upon customer experiences

•Need to consult with consumer organisations to ensure new regulation is efficient and effective

Why collaborate with Consumer organisations?

17/12/2013

Consumer organisations are therefore important partners in the regulatory process:

•They can pass on signals about market functioning (and market failure)

•They provide guidance to customers about prices and rights, thus empowering them

•They are involved in complaint handling and (in some cases) Alternative Dispute Resolution

•They disseminate information from NRAs

NRAs and Consumer Organisations

• Consumer Organisations are a stakeholder among others for NRAs

• But collaboration is not as developed and structured as with other stakeholders

• COs not as focussed and resourced as other typical stakeholders

• COs can be the voice of energy customers• Regulators need to balance a range of interests in the

energy market, whilst working in the public interest

21/04/23

Positive effects

Involving consumer organisations more structurally in the regulatory process is believed to have a number of positive effects:•Improve performance of regulators and consumer organisations, by facilitating understanding of markets and consumer concerns•Help to encourage increased understanding and acceptance of regulatory decisions; and•Lead to greater transparency, to the benefit of all market participants

21/04/23

RASP principles

• Strengthen reliability of processes and services delivered to consumers and to enhance customer empowerment/protection through more transparency, regulatory accountability and enhanced compliance with rules

• Customers will benefit from information that is readily available and simple to understand; and

• Enhanced engagement of consumer organisations in energy policy development contributes to improving design of market rules and more competitive markets, which in turn is a condition for affordable prices in the long run 

21/04/23

Advice on Consumer Organisations Involvement

CEER Advice developed in close cooperation with BEUC

Four thematic areas, each with a number of specific recommendations:

•Information Exchange

•Capacity Building

•Policy Development and Design

•Improving Compliance

21/04/23

Information Exchange

• Recommendation 1 – Simplicity of information

• Recommendation 2 – Visibility of information

• Recommendation 3 – Improved communication channels

• Recommendation 4 – Clear framework for information sharing

►Avoid complex language and exaggerated levels of technical detail

►Make information more accessible through proactive notifications

21/04/23

Capacity Building

• Recommendation 5 – Synergies

• Recommendation 6 – Extent of capacity building

• Recommendation 7 – Priority subject areas

• Recommendation 8 – Resource management

• Recommendation 9 – Forms of capacity building

• Recommendation 10 – Best practice from other sectors

►Strengthen knowledge base and performance of both NRAs and consumer organisations

21/04/23

Policy Development and Design

• Recommendation 11 – Overview of future developments of the regulatory framework

• Recommendation 12 – Prioritisation of future regulatory developments

• Recommendation 13 – Public consultations

• Recommendation 14 – Transparency

►NRAs should provide an overview of envisaged future regulatory framework developments

►Encourage consumer organisations to take part in this process

21/04/23

Improving Compliance

• Recommendation 15 – Evidence-based regulation

• Recommendation 16 – Accountability

►Detect potentially non-compliant behaviour in the market

►Help provide stronger evidence-based regulation►Make NRAs more transparent

21/04/23

Conclusions / next steps

• A well-functioning retail market for electricity and gas requires empowered and protected customers

• Involvement of consumers and consumer organisations is key to deliver effective regulatory and enforcement results

• NRAs and consumer organisations already cooperate on a variety of issues, but more needs to be done

• CEER will look with BEUC at how collaboration between NRAs and consumer organisations can be intensified and made more effective following the Advice’s recommendations

21/04/23

Thank you for your attention!

www.ceer.eu