Requirements of EU Electricity Directive have largely been implemented in Latvia - ministry

RIGA - Although Latvia has missed the deadline to fully transpose the European Union (EU) Electricity Directive, a significant portion of its requirements has already been implemented in Latvian legislation or is in effect in practice, LETA was told at the Ministry of Climate and Energy.

The European Commission (EC) has launched an infringement procedure against Latvia for failing to notify the Commission of the full transposition of the directive. The ministry indicates that additional time was needed to complete the transposition process in order to reconcile the views of the parties involved in the electricity market and to take their interests into account in the national regulations.

The ministry emphasizes that the directive’s requirements regarding consumers’ rights to freely choose an electricity supplier have already been transposed. The Electricity Market Law provides end users with the right to change their electricity supplier and aggregator without restrictions.

According to the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the requirements regarding energy sharing have also, to a large extent, already been incorporated into the Electricity Market Law and the government regulations on the registration and operation of energy communities.

To fully transpose the directive’s requirements, the Ministry of Climate and Energy has drafted amendments to the Electricity Market Law, as well as amendments to the Regulations on Trade and Use of Electricity.

The Ministry of Climate and Energy notes that, during the transposition of the directive, Latvia maintains constant communication with the European Commission, and the Commission has been informed of the progress of the process and of the fact that a large portion of the requirements have already been implemented or are already in practice in Latvia.

Meanwhile, the full transposition of the Hydrogen and Decarbonized Gas Market Package requires amendments to the Energy Law, which are currently still being drafted. The Ministry of Climate and Energy reports that these amendments are scheduled to be submitted for inter-institutional coordination and public consultation in the coming weeks.

The European Commission has also initiated an infringement procedure against Latvia because the country has not notified of the full transposition of this directive. The deadline for its transposition was August 5. The EC has sent similar official notification letters to 25 other EU member states.

The response provided by the Ministry of Climate and Energy does not specify a concrete deadline by which the transposition of both directives in Latvia will be fully completed.

As previously reported, the EC has initiated a total of six infringement proceedings against Latvia for failing to notify of the full transposition of six EU directives into national law. Latvia has been given two months to respond to the EC’s letters of formal notice, complete the transposition of the directives, and inform the Commission of the measures taken.