Julien Pillot

The Essential Facilities Doctrine in European Competition Policy: The Case of the Energy Sector

This article raises the question of the implementation of principles related to the so-called Essential Facilities Doctrine (hereafter EFD) in the European energy sector. Based on a study of the US and European jurisprudence, it first shows that these principles are subject to different interpretations and that the European conception is not necessarily a panacea. It then studies the concrete evolution of European competition policy regarding essential facilities in energy and shows that even though EFD principles are currently implemented with more vigour than ever before, the new challenges the European Union faces may lead regulatory and competition authorities to derogate to the usual doxa. The special case of nuclear capacities in France is finally analyzed in the context of the EDF/Direct Energie case.