Reforming TSOs: Using the ‘Third Package’ Legislation to Promote Efficiency and Accelerate Regional Integration in EU Wholesale Power Markets

The EU is developing new legislation – the so-called “Third Package” – to foster competition in its electric power markets. These proposals could be improved by adding more focus on regional integration of wholesale power markets, allowing more leeway for arrangements that fit the diverse existing patterns of transmission ownership and control, and addressing upfront new regulatory concerns that arise when transmission is divested as an independent, for-profit business.