In one the State Council pointed the problem with this order

Cyril Vock, senior associate, Department of energy, transport and infrastructure, Denton Wilde Sapte and Ronnie Leyes, student-lawyer, law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel, team energy

The order on the freedom of prices and competition from December 1, 1986 provides that the prices of goods and services "are freely determined by the competition". To an administrative authority power to set rates is an exceptional power. For electricity and gas, it is hitherto justified by the interests of territorial cohesion as a set of equalization users ensured equal access to power leveling price disparities due to the territory. Since the instructions to open the markets of June 2003, the administrative regulation of prices is explained for non-discriminatory access to natural monopolies of transmission networks. On the energy bill should complete competition in the provision recognizing individual faculty to obtain supplies at prices of market from July 1, 2007. There is no less that the market price which will be thus offered come into competition with regulated tariffs set by the public power.

Regulated, fixed rates "based on the intrinsic characteristics of supplies and the costs associated with these supplies", must integrate supply costs and the costs of the networks of incumbent operators. Supply costs incurred by gas of France in its long-term contracts are more fully passed by the Government, the gap between regulated rates and market prices thus hampering competition, said the former President of the CRE Jean Syrota during a hearing before the National Assembly, March 8. The cost of gas indexed on oil supplies increases with the price of a barrel. But mitigation increase for eligible sites in France should not be a political decision. On the contrary, it is competitive pressure resulting from the freedom of the customer to choose between suppliers operating in the European Union that will allow a fall in prices. It is true that the effect of competition also depends on the development of competition between producers outside the EU.

Furthermore, the European Commission introduced remains the France in believing that the regulated tariffs did not meet the spirit of the directive (2). It must be that new suppliers are able to enter the market to ensure that the competitive pressure on prices. However, too little room is left them: their room for manoeuvre is limited to a few niches. The difficulty they encounter is illustrated by the request brought by Poweo in January 2006, to suspend one amending the readjustment of tariffs in public distribution. In one, the State Council pointed the problem with this order. The tariff adjustment applies indeed indiscriminately to all tariffs in public distribution, without distinguishing according to whether they are individuals or companies. Even if the future energy Act recognizes the eligibility of all final consumers, it will leave full the issue of adjustment differentiated rates regulated categories of clients.

Parliamentary debates have so far left to the administration to set rules for adjustment of rates. The Decree of 16 June 2005 which sets the rules for public distribution rates allowed the administration to change easily in including their quarterly evolution starting in January 2006. This uncertainty on the adjustment of tariffs prevented the various actors to anticipate. The Ministry of industry is back on the trimestrialité for the adjustment of the rates of gas of France. However, it is difficult to know the next adjustment of the rates. Those non-nationalized distributors, they continue to evolve on a quarterly basis.