Just What is the Scope of the Essential Facilities Doctrine in the Energy Sector?: Third Party Access-Friendly Interpretation in the EU v. Contractual Freedom in the US
Common Market Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 5, 2011
University of Eastern Finland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 13
30 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2013
Date Written: October 01, 2011
Abstract
This article will examine the recent Commission case law relating to access to natural gas pipelines and the use of the essential facilities doctrine to force changes in the EU natural gas markets. Given the origins of this doctrine and the advanced market structure in many parts of the United States, the article will also examine and compare the pipeline access-related case law from the US. What emerges from this comparison is a stark difference in the application of the essential facilities doctrine in the EU and the US. There are various explanations for these differences, some more theoretical or doctrinal and others more practical.
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