MEPs on the industry, transport and research committee voted narrowly on 6 May for full unbundling of ownership of energy companies as the only way to achieve a full liberalisation of the sector.
Members backed a report, which was authored by UK Labour MEP Eluned Morgan, that called for energy companies to sell off their shares in transmission infrastructure to avoid the possibility that they could exploit their control over networks to favour their generating companies.
The vote, which was won by 26 votes to 22, is a blow for France and Germany, which oppose ownership unbundling because it weaken their national champions, giant energy firms such as RWE, EDF and GDF.
The European Commission has proposed an alternative to ownership unbundling, an independent systems operator, in which firms with generating businesses could keep their shares in transmission networks. It is, though, insisting on very strict conditions to ensure the independence of the operator.
Paris and Berlin have proposed a third option that includes a range of measures meant to prevent conflicts of interest in investment decisions.
German centre-right MEP Angelika Niebler, who chairs the industry committee, said the vote was a “Pyhrric victory”. “It is a mistake to think that the internal energy market can be made more efficient through ownership unbundling. We won't get lower prices by separating production and networks,” she said.
The report will have to be voted on by all MEPs at the plenary session in Strasbourg in June. The Slovenian presidency of the EU wants to get a deal agreed during the first reading in June.
