Brussels and the anti-CEZ coalition

The loose anti-ČEZ coalition has seen better days. The Greens were turned to pulp in the elections; talk of reining in energy rates died with Jiří Paroubek; Czech Coal's mining expansion was stifled by the new pro-ČEZ coalition; TOP 09 figured out which side its bread is buttered on; and most of the media decided to fight easier battles. One partial anti-ČEZ victory was won last week when the EU Commission asked the CR and 19 other EU states to implement single-market rules for gas and electricity. The essence of the EU complaint is that there is no truly competitive electricity-trading market in the CR, which is something Jan Ondřich of Candole Partners advisory firm had argued in LN and ČEZ Unplugged. Regulators should look at ČEZ as a giant on a tiny market and not as a speck on the EU market, Ondřich argues. Regardless of whether Candole is working on commission for a ČEZ competitor or for the EU Commission directly, the fact that someone in Brussels is listening gives the anti-ČEZ coalition a small ray of hope. [Czech Republic European Union Lidové noviny natural gas]