GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Evangelos (Evans) Courakis, Evangelos Mylonas Tsoumas, Sofia Andreanoudi, Vassiliki Xynou and Ioanna Marouso Argyriou, Koutalidis Law Firm
tion activities and enhance market transparency and competition. It set the framework for the pri- vatisation of state-owned assets in the energy sector, encouraging private-sector participation, aimed to reduce the market share of PPC in the supply market to 50% or less until 2019. The above-mentioned Law reinforces the role of the RAWEW in monitoring and regulating the elec- tricity market. It grants RAWEW additional pow- ers to ensure compliance with competition laws and market rules. If an entity is found to exceed permissible market concentration or engage in anti-competitive behaviour the following apply. • Fines and penalties: significant financial pen- alties can be imposed, which can be up to 10% of the entity’s annual turnover. • Structural remedies: RAWEW may require divestiture or other structural changes to restore competitive market conditions. • Regulatory actions: RAWEW can impose spe- cific regulatory measures, such as capacity restrictions, to mitigate market dominance. Notably, certain anti-concentration rules are found in the recent legislative initiatives for the promotion of battery energy storage projects either through state aid or the prioritisation in grid connection applications. Such frameworks essentially comprise tender processes for a spe- cific project capacity allocated per the various areas in Greece and foresee maximum limits with respect to stations owned or controlled by the same beneficial owners to ensure market diversification and competition. 2.5 Surveillance to Detect Anti- Competitive Behaviour According to the provisions of Law 4001/2011, as amended, RAWEW is entrusted with the responsibility of energy market surveillance to detect anti-competitive behaviour.
Within that context, RAWEW oversees the electricity and natural gas markets, ensuring compliance with market regulations, promot- ing competition and protecting consumers by monitoring market activities, conducting audits and investigating potential breaches of market rules. Upon detecting potential anti-competitive behaviour, RAWEW can launch formal investi- gations and impose sanctions. These investiga- tions may involve data collection, interviews and co-operation with other national and internation- al regulatory bodies. If a violation is confirmed, RAWEW can impose a range of sanctions, from fines and penalties to structural remedies such as the divestiture of assets or the imposition of operational changes. RAWEW is also the super- visor with respect to overseeing compliance with the anti-concentration restrictions foreseen in the recently adopted schemes aimed at promot- ing battery energy storage projects. The determination of anti-competitive behaviour entails substantial financial penalties, potential- ly reaching up to 10% of the offending entity’s annual turnover. Further to this, structural rem- edies, such as orders to divest certain assets or business units to reduce market dominance and restore competitive conditions are likely to be imposed. Lastly, the Hellenic Competition Commission is entrusted with monitoring overall compliance with applicable general competition laws and is competent to launch pertinent investigations and make use of a plethora of sanctions statu- torily available to the same.
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