Publication: The Development of Electricity Markets in the Euro-Mediterranean Area : Trends and Prospects for Liberalization and Regional Integration
Loading...
Published
2001-03
ISSN
Date
2013-06-13
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The main objective of this document is to map key policy issues that need to be addressed to successfully implement energy sector reform at the national, and regional levels, and, provides an overview of global, European, and Mediterranean trends, aiming at facilitating the dissemination of best practices. Chapter I describes international best practices in the design of legal, regulatory, and institutional sector framework, which include corporatization, and restructuring of state-owned energy utilities; separation of regulatory and operational functions, by creating coherent regulatory frameworks, establishing independent regulators, and promoting competition; engaging the electricity industry into generation, transmission, distribution, and trade; introduction of competition in generation, and trade, and, in the regulation of monopolistic activities; promotion of private participation; and, reduction of subsidies, and balance of tariffs. Chapters II and III examine power sector reform in the European Union (EU), and power sector policies of the Mediterranean partners, reviewing liberalization, regulatory institutions, and the development of electricity markets, and power trading in the EU. It specifies that despite recent progress, the main structural flaw of energy reform in the Mediterranean region, has been the lack of liberalization, and effective regulation, contrasting sharply with EU reforms, where the focus for electricity, and gas has been the introduction of competition. Chapter IV proposes an agenda for regional change, through sector reforms, promotion of energy policy, economic analysis, and interconnection, through technical assistance, and financial support, to create integrated, competitive cross-borders for power markets.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Muller-Jentsch, Daniel. 2001. The Development of Electricity Markets in the Euro-Mediterranean Area : Trends and Prospects for Liberalization and Regional Integration. World Bank Technical Paper;No. 491. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13910 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Deeper Integration and Trade in Services in the Euro-Mediterranean Region : Southern Dimensions of the European Neighborhood Policy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)Deeper economic integration with the enlarged European Union - which accounts for a quarter of global GDP and foreign direct investment - could become a main driver for economic development in the southern Mediterranean countries. The planned Euro-Mediterranean free trade area for goods is a first step into that direction, but additional measures are needed. Especially the liberalization of services trade and the comprehensive domestic reforms this entails would strengthen the linkages with global and European markets. This study analyzes the adjustment needs and policy options associated with deeper integration between the two sides of the Mediterranean Sea. It puts specific emphasis on the dynamics of deeper integration at the company level and their respective policy implications. Besides a general discussion of deeper integration and trade in services liberalization, the study contains detailed assessments of individual sectors - especially the backbone services (e.g. transport, telecommunications, financial markets, electricity) and other sectors of relevance for deeper integration (tourism, IT-enabled services, distribution services). Even though the focus is on regional integration, multilateral liberalization issues are factored into the analysis (e.g. the GATS, the WTO Doha Round) and options for the pursuit of an "open regionalism" are explore.Publication Transport Policies for the Euro-Mediterranean Free-Trade Area : An Agenda for Multimodal Transport Reform in the Southern Mediterranean(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-08)This study argues that the 15 European Union (EU) countries and their 12 Mediterranean Partners should complement their Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area for industrial goods with a common transport space. This would require the removal of policy-induced frictions in the region's multi-modal transport system in order to facilitate the flow of foods, people, and investments within this emerging trade block. The purpose of this report is to identify the bottlenecks and inefficiencies that currently exist and to map out the reforms in the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework that should be implemented to address them. This includes both national and cross-border policy measures in the various modes (air, maritime, and land-based transport) as well as in transport logistics. The study compares sector performance and sector policies within the concerned countries and it benchmarks these against international best practice. It draws on policy lessons from other developing regions, such as Latin America and Eastern Europe and assesses the extent to which the policy framework of the EU Single Market in the transport sector could provide guidance for the creation of a common transport space throughout the Mediterranean region.Publication Revisiting Policy Options on the Market Structure in the Power Sector(Washington, DC, 2011-07)The objectives of this study are to develop a taxonomy of the existing power market structures, as shown by the extent of vertical and horizontal unbundling found among restructured power systems, across developing countries; to design an analytical framework for assessing the desirability of unbundling under the variety of economic conditions found among developing countries; and To propose insights for operational guidance on alternative market structures based on relevant criteria, in particular on the initial conditions of a country and its power sector. The study specifically examines whether power system size and country per capita income can be reliable indicators of initial conditions for guiding policy on power market structure. This guidance is needed to address issues such as whether there are solid foundations for recommending vertical unbundling for small power systems in low-income countries, particularly in the absence of short term privatization prospects. The policy recommendations therefore have to be tailored to the specific taxonomy of market structures that characterize the electricity sector in developing countries. The study reports the evidence from econometric analysis and case studies on the (relative) success of achieving the objectives of unbundling. These objectives may be to enhance transparency and governance, attract private sector investment, and/or to create a competitive market and ultimately its impact on performance. The study has an analytical approach to model market structure, together with ownership and regulation, controlling for several variables, as determinants of performance across several indicators of performance, including access, operational and financial performance and environmental sustainability.Publication Timor Leste - Expanding Near-Term Agricultural Exports : Report Annexes(World Bank, 2011-06-01)The Government of Timor-Leste (GOTL) is committed to the development of the non-oil economy by enabling the diversification of domestic production and trade integration. The objective of the Timor-Leste Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) is to agree on priority actions to help overcome constraints to expanding agricultural exports in the near-term. It supports the government's efforts to develop a broader international trade strategy, which may include strategic sectors such as tourism and fisheries. The focus of the DTIS is on short-term results in areas with immediate export potential. It therefore looks only at the agriculture sector. Achieving export growth and diversification are essential for supporting overall economic growth and employment generation. Non-oil export growth is critical in light of the external sustainability risks of depending on exhaustible petroleum exports. Expanding output for domestic consumption is also a priority and may help reduce dependence on imports. Policy actions to expand exports will impact positively on domestic trade as well. Timor-Leste faces the challenge of having to mostly create a non-oil export sector, rather than reviving one that is stagnant or destroyed because of conflict. This context is quite unique even when compared to similar small-island or post-conflict countries.Publication Services Trade Liberalization and Regulatory Reform : Re-invigorating International Cooperation(2011-01-01)Trade and investment in services are inhibited by a range of policy restrictions, but the best offers so far in the Doha negotiations are on average twice as restrictive as actual policy. They will generate no additional market opening. Regulatory concerns help explain the limited progress. This paper develops two proposals to enhance the prospects for both liberalization of services trade and regulatory reform. The first is for governments to create mechanisms ("services knowledge platforms") to bring together regulators, trade officials, and stakeholders to discuss services regulatory reform. Such mechanisms could identify reform priorities and opportunities for utilization of "aid for trade" resources, thereby putting in place the preconditions for future market opening. The second proposal is for a new approach to negotiations in the World Trade Organization, with a critical mass of countries that account for the bulk of services production agreeing to lock-in applied levels of protection and pre-committing to reform of policies affecting foreign direct investment and international movement for individual service providers -- two areas where current policy is most restrictive and potential benefits from liberalization are greatest. If these proposals cannot be fully implemented in the Doha time frame, then any Doha agreement could at least lay the basis for a forward-looking program of international cooperation along the proposed lines.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Georgia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-17)Tourism is a major driver of Georgia's economic growth and diversification, revenue generated by international visitors amounted to 4.1 billion USD in 2023, making tourism one of the leading industries. However, the sector is far from reaching its full potential. Despite the impressive growth in arrivals experienced since 2009, Georgia relies heavily on visitors from neighboring countries. In 2023, the combined share of Russia, Turkiye, Armenia, and Azerbaijan accounted for sixty-one percent of the total international visitors’ trips, while emerging markets with higher expenditure levels still represent a small percentage of international tourism visitors. Georgia offers natural diversity, from green valleys and seaside to deserts and high mountains of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, a variety of religious and historical attractions and a rich gastronomy, but only few regions concentrate a higher percentage of visitors - Tbilisi, Adjara and Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Limited connectivity (road access) and other relevant infrastructure and the availability of high-quality experiences and services is hindering the development of other destinations. The objective of this report is to identify key bottlenecks and challenges still affecting tourism sector development in Georgia and provide recommendations to enhance future economic development through sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism approaches.Publication Evaluating the Potential of Container-Based Sanitation(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-02-14)This study focuses on Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL), a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), and its operations mostly in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, and to a lesser extent in Port-au-Prince. SOIL, through its container-based program known as EkoLakay, operates mainly in the eastern part of Cap-Haitien in low-income areas characterized by a high population density, irregular alley layout, and higher exposure to floods (compared to the rest of the city). SOIL provides full-cycle ecological sanitation, where excreta is treated and transformed into compost, benefiting agricultural projects and development. SOIL is the only service provider in Cap-Haitien (and in Haiti at large) able to manage a sanitation system that covers the whole sanitation service chain, and customers expressed satisfaction with the toilet technology. While affordability is a key issue for customers and non-customers, the user fee is unlikely to cover all costs of the sanitation service, which includes excreta treatment and transformation. SOIL intends to transfer implementation and scale-up of its CBS business models to the public and private sectors in Haiti, making replicability and scalability key for their business model. To meet its ambitious target number of customers in Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince, SOIL will need to continue to influence the institutional environment, along with other organizations and donors in the sector.Publication State and Trends of the Carbon Market—2004(2005)This study describes the status of the emerging carbon market, as of May 2004. The carbon market encompasses trades of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances (under the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme), and project-based transactions, whereby a buyer participates in the financing of a project that reduces GHG emissions, compared with what would have happened otherwise, and gets emission reduction credits in exchange (for example, Clean Development Mechanism, or Joint Implementation projects under the Kyoto Protocol). The study finds that the carbon market is growing steadily. A total of 64 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) has been exchanged through projects from January to May 2004, nearly as much as during the whole year 2003 (78 million). Furthermore, the demand for emission reductions remains heavily concentrated, with a few EU governments, and Japanese firms the largest buyers. Finally, Asia is now the largest supplier of emission reductions, followed by Latin America, developed economies, and Eastern Europe. Prices of project-based emission reductions in early 2004 have remained essentially stable compared with 2003. In the absence of a standard contract, these prices strongly depend on the structure of the transaction, notably risk-sharing between buyers and sellers.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.