Germany believes the European Commission has failed to make an adequate case for its proposals to inject more competition into power and gas markets, according to a letter Berlin sent last week to leading EU commissioners.
The letter, written by senior Economy Ministry official Jochen Wuermeling, says an "impact assessment" study on which the Commission's energy plans are based does not take into account a whole range of factors that may be influencing energy prices in the bloc.
Germany and several other EU countries are opposed to Commission plans, unveiled in September, to push through unbundling of ownership of electricity and gas assets.
This would require generators and suppliers of power and gas to sell their transmission infrastructure or hand over control to an independent operator - moves Germany, France and others say would weaken European companies.
"We don't believe this impact assessment provides a sustainable argument that would oblige all member states to introduce ownership unbundling," the letter, sent to EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, reads.
"Many factors beyond network unbundling have a much bigger influence on prices and investments. The impact assessment says nothing about this." A copy of the letter, which is dated November 19, was provided to Reuters by the Economy Ministry.
EU energy ministers are due to meet on December 3 with the Commission's energy plans high on the agenda. Piebalgs issued a statement in Brussels on Friday saying the proposals were "more necessary than ever" to ensure competitive energy prices for EU consumers.
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