Contract Law and Energy Markets

The liberalization/restructuring of energy markets has provoked a deep reorganization of energy chains. Energy contracts became the main tool to coordinate the activities in the wholesale, transport and retail segments. At the same time, energy contracts were shaped by regulators to foster competition. This area of research tries to find out the main determinants of the new equilibrium between freedom of contract and public interests. The main topics include:

• the relationship between contract law, regulation and competition law
• regulatory techniques to shape the content of contracts
• long-term contractual relationships and competitive dynamics
• contract law and network access rules
• energy contracts and developments of European contract law