European Electricity Network Codes & Guidelines: A Preliminary Analysis of Effects on the German Electricity Market Design

This book identifies and analyzes the legal nature of the network codes and framework guidelines concerning the European electricity market and assesses characteristics possibly impacting the status quo of the German electricity market design. At the core of this book stands a literature based discussion about possible impacts on the market design. On the evidence presented, it is concluded that the framework guidelines seem to have a genuine binding effect when setting the objectives and principles of the network codes. The network codes themselves draw their legally binding nature from their formal adoption by comitology and are applicable for matters of cross-border electricity grids and market integration. It is derived that if the network code regulations proved to be disadvantageous from Germany’s perspective, the German government could to a certain extent influence the comitology procedure. The results of this study ought to be treated as tentative until the codes are further developed and refined. On the evidence presented, it is hypothesized that the impacts of the network codes and framework guidelines on the German electricity market design are limited.