Energy services have a particularly significant impact on the daily life and welfare of consumers. The importance of such services is high, and their regulation is also changing both at the EU and Member States level, especially after the adoption of the Third Energy Package1, which is focused on improving the operation of retail markets to yield real benefits for both electricity and gas consumers. In order to implement the main or the most relevant goal of the EU, such as (...) high level of consumer rights protection, resulting in consumer trust in business sector, proper and effective functioning of the EU internal market etc., it is essential to ensure clear and sufficient legal regulation, establish responsibility of the services providers, consumer rights and duties as well as promote more effective, faster and cheaper ways of solving consumer and business disputes. The authors of this article feel the lack of scientific analysis on this issue. Despite its importance, discussions take place at political or practical level, but no recent analyses exist as to why energy services sector is so fragmented and how it affects different conditions or rights of consumers in various Member States. This article also clearly supports the idea that the above-mentioned goals can be achieved by close and more fruitful cooperation between the EU and national competent authorities, participation in various ad hoc expert working groups and committees, such as the Vulnerable Consumers Working Group. This article reflects general ideas about the problems arising in the energy consumer services sector, the activity of the EU and national institutions, seeking to ensure fair and transparent provision of such services to consumers, it also contains an analysis of alternative dispute resolution (hereinafter – the ADR) methods and good practice of their application in the EU Member States. This article highly supports the application of alternative procedures in the field of energy services and sees them as a possibility to minimise increasing consumer problems, e.g. a new phenomenon – consumer energy poverty in the EU, which is defined as the situation where a household is unable to access a socially and materially necessitated level of energy services at home and pay for the provided services. (shrink)

The article analyzes the changes of legal regulation on natural gas market in the context of the third European Union (EU) energy package. The paper consists of the introduction, two parts and conclusions. The first part analyses the main provisions on the natural gas market of the Third EU energy package. The second part of the paper focuses on the effect of the Third EU energy package on legal regulation of natural gas market in Lithuania. For this purpose, the author (...) analyzes the relevant provisions of the future legal regulation that are laid out in the Conception on draft amendment of the Lithuanian law on natural gas (the Conception) that was adopted by the Resolution of 19 May 2010 No. 585 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (the Government). The author analyses the chosen model of implementation of the Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas of 13 July 2009 and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC (Directive 2009/73/EC), and the possible negative and positive consequences of the implementation of the model chosen by the drafters of the Conception. The paper is ended with motivated conclusions. (shrink)

The article explores the problems of the legal status of the regulatory authorities in the energy sector of Ukraine in the context of the administrative reform currently taking place in the Ukraine and the fulfillment of the EU requirements in this sphere. Based on the analysis of the EU legislation, in particular Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC and Directive 2009/73/EC (...) of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC, and the experience of Ukraine in the field of energy regulation, the author of this article supports granting the special legal status to the national regulatory authorities in the energy sector of Ukraine and their separation from the system of state executive bodies, however, recommends to stipulate in the Constitution of Ukraine the provisions, regarding the organizational legal form and the establishment procedure of such bodies, the appointment and dismissal procedure for their management and members, the peculiarities of the relations of these bodies with the President of Ukraine, the Parliament of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine. (shrink)

Racionalaus pasirinkimo suvokimas leidžia analitiškai sumodeliuoti ne tik sociodemografinius ir motyvacinius asmenų pasirinkimo veiksnius, bet juos susieti su makrolygmens socialiniais pokyčiais. Žvelgiant sociologiškai, energetinis saugumas yra visuomenės ir jos atskirų grupių rizikos suvokimo pasekmė, todėl racionalaus pasirinkimo teorija šiuo atveju gali padėti tipologizuoti racionalų veikėją energetinio saugumo suvokimo atžvilgiu. Remiantis visuomenės nuomonės apklausa (N = 2002), išskiriami mažai apie energetikos politiką žinančio socialinio veikėjo energetinio saugumo suvokimo tipai ir jų ryšys su įvairiais sociodemografiniais (amžius, pajamos, išsilavinimas, gyvenamoji vieta) rodikliais.

Straipsnyje analizuojama galima grėsmė didelei Lietuvos visuomenės daliai, kylanti dėl centralizuoto šildymo sistemos funkcionavimo rizikos. Aptariama, kaip sovietiniu laikotarpiu didelė visuomenės dalis tapo energetikos sistemos įkaitu ir kaip pažangia laikyta centralizuoto šildymo sistema šiandien yra sunki našta daugybei šalies gyventojų. Analizuojant „organizuoto neatsakingumo“ reiškinį, atskleidžiamas rizikos visuomenėsparadoksas (kuris apibūdina dualistinę rizikos – rizikos kūrimo ir politinės atsakomybės vengimo – prigimtį), iš dalies paaiškinantis atsakingų institucijų nesugebėjimą spręsti centralizuotos šildymo problemos.

The article analyses the legal status of the natural gas market regulatory institutions in Lithuania and in the member states of the European Union. First, the authors assess the most important elements of the legal status of the natural gas market regulators in the EU member states, namely, the degree of autonomy (type of institution, appointment and dismissal procedures of management, duration of the terms of office, sources of funding) and the measures aimed at ensuring accountability, transparency, and prevention of (...) conflicts of interest. Second, the legal status of the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy, which carries out functions of regulation and control of the natural gas sector in Lithuania, is examined. Finally, the authors conclude that the imperfections in the regulation of the legal status of the Commission result in several negative effects and provide reasoned proposals regarding the improvement of the legal status of the Commission. (shrink)