1. The EU’s third energy market package contains common rules for electricity and gas, and will create a unified market for this in Europe.
2. ACER is the EU’s energy agency, which, among other things, must ensure that the rules in the package are applied equally and observed by all parties.
3. ACER cannot force Norway to build new power cables abroad.
4. If Norway joins ACER and the energy market package, it implies a relinquishment of sovereignty. Therefore, law professors Eivind Smith and Hans Petter Graver at UiO believe that a three-quarters majority in the Storting is required to adopt the package. However, the Ministry of Justice’s legal department has concluded that a simple majority is enough.
5. ACER’s most important role is to interpret the regulations and create guidelines. If there is a disagreement between different countries, ACER can make a decision, like a kind of court. The decision-making authority is limited to questions of a technical nature.
6. LO and large parts of the trade union movement are against the energy market package and ACER.
7. Some fear that ACER will lead to higher electricity prices. NVE director Per Sanderud rejects this as “whimsical”. There are other factors that control the electricity price, he says.
8. The governing parties and MDG are for ACER. KrF, Sp, SV and Red are against.
9. The Labor Party has agreed to ACER, subject to certain requirements for the government. Law professor Eivind Smith believes that the government cannot guarantee all the requirements anyway.
10. Norsk Industri, which represents several employers in power-intensive industry, is in favor of ACER and the energy market package.
11. Large parts of the environmental movement are positive about ACER and the energy market package. An important argument is that a more efficient power collaboration enables greater investment in renewable energy.
