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Liberalisation of Utilities and Evolving European Regulation
Author(s) -
Coen David,
Doyle Chris
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
economic outlook
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1468-0319
pISSN - 0140-489X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0319.00234
Subject(s) - liberalization , competition (biology) , european union , electricity , economics , competition policy , service (business) , industrial organization , international economics , business , market economy , economy , engineering , ecology , electrical engineering , biology
In this article, David Coen and Chris Doyle provide an overview of recent liberalisation and regulatory developments affecting key utility sectors (electricity, gas, postal service, and telecommunications) in the European Union. They examine what kind of competition is suitable in the utilities, and discuss obstacles that lie in the path of competition. They address in detail the institutional design of sector specific regulation. National and supra‐national regulatory structures are analysed and these are illustrated by examples drawn from several European countries. In institutional terms, they argue that it is important regulatory regimes have a high degree of flexibilityand speed to allow for the continued evolution of the EU utility sector.