BERLIN, 15 March 2011 – As the nuclear catastrophe in Japan sent the beleaguered German government’s plan to extend the life of its nuclear power stations into a tail-spin, documents provided to GreenLeaks reveal that one of Europe’s leading energy law firms believes the extension of the life of Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations is in breach of competition law and the Constitution, will cripple investment in renewable energy, while creating a windfall of €230 billion for E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall: http://www.greenleaks.com
A detailed legal and economic opinion dated 25th January 2011 by Dr. Olaf Däuper and Dr. Roman Ringwald, lawyers in the energy law firm Becker Büttner Held, and Uwe Hilmes, CEO of the energy market analysts Enervis Energy Advisors, reveals that the recent extension of the life of 17 nuclear power-stations by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government will lead to a significant reduction of competition in the German energy market.
The document published in full on the GreenLeaks.com website, describes the extension of the life of the nuclear power-stations by an average of 12 years to 2036 as the “consolidation of an anti-competitive oligopoly”that may provide the four energy companies that control 80% of the German market with a windfall profit of €230 billion over the power-stations’ 60 year life-span.
According to Enervis’ economic modelling referenced in the opinion, the extension of the operating life of the power-stations to 40 years will provide E.ON with future windfall profits of €26.4 billion, RWE with €15.6 billion, EnBW with €13 billion and Vattenfall with €3.6 billion.
This will occur at great cost to the renewable energy sector. Upward pressure will be placed on energy costs, borne by the public, while limiting the market’s response to climate change. The document reveals that the crippling of competition caused by the extension of nuclear energy will hinder investment in renewable energy until at least the end of the 2020s.
The Becker Büttner Held opinion represents one of the first major legal analyses released into the public sphere, examining the implications of the extension of the life of the nuclear power-stations forcompetitive markets. Its publication will further public debate about competition in the European energy sector and provide another reason to abandon the extension of nuclear energy in Germany. For this reason we consider it of great public interest.
The legal opinion examines the possibility that the government’s inhibiting of competition is in breach of Article 12 of the Constitution, which has been interpreted by the German Constitutional Court to imply aconstitutional protection for free and competitive markets. According to their analysis, if the Government is obligated to protect the competitiveness of the market, Merkel’s effective empowerment of a cartel may be unconstitutional.
While the Social Democratic (SPD) controlled German states have lodged legal challenges against the extension on the basis that the Bundesrat – the German upper-house which represents the states – did not have the opportunity to consider the law and Greenpeace have lodged writs on behalf of the residents living near the oldest power-stations, no party has lodged a legal challenge against the extension on the basis that it inhibits competition in the energy market.
This legal argument may open another front against the extension of nuclear energy by offering the opportunity to posit commercial laws against a commercial decision.
Who is best placed to run such a legal challenge? A renewable energy company whose commercial interests are directly affected is most likely to have standing before the German Constitutional Court or the competition watch-dog, the Bundeskartellamt. Given that before the Japanese nuclear catastrophe three-quarters of the German public were against the extension of nuclear energy in its current form, a renewable energy company that launches a legal challenge is likely to be regarded as a corporate-hero.
GreenLeaks hopes that the publication of this document will contribute to the case for just such a challenge. Over to you …
See: http://www.greenleaks.com For the history of the organisation founded by the Australian filmmaker, Scott Millwood: http://www.greenleaks.com/team
