World Trade Law and the Emergence of International Electricity Markets

Christopher Frey combines academic and practical experience in the field of international energy law and regulation. He has been working as a regulatory and policy advisor in the energy sector for several years and was previously an assistant to the chairman of the environmental committee in the European Parliament. He holds an LL.B. degree from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and an LL.M. from Europa-Institut, Saarland University (Germany) where he specialized in EU Law and International Trade Law. While pursuing his doctoral dissertation he worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Universities of Dresden, Hamburg and Canterbury (NZ).

Part 1: Setting the Scene: The Technical and Regulatory Foundations and the Emergence of International Electricity Markets.- Introduction.- Technical Aspects of Electricity Systems.- Regulatory and Commercial Aspects of the Electricity Sector.- The Advent of International Electricity Trade.- Final Conclusions to Part 1.- Part 2: World Trade Law and the Regulation of Electricity Trade.- Introduction.- WTO Law and the Regulation of Electricity Trade.- The Energy Charter Treaty and the Regulation of Electricity Trade.- The Relationship between the ECT and the WTO Agreements.- Electricity in other Preferential Trade Agreements.- Final Conclusions to Part 2.- Part 3: Barriers to Electricity Trade and the Role of World Trade Law.- Introduction.- A Typology of International Trade Issues in the Electricity Sector.- Market Structure as an Impediment to International Trade in Electricity: Vertical Integration, Monopolies and State Ownership.- Interlude: The Role of Private Actors in the Electricity Sector and the Application of WTO Law.- Quantitative Import and Export Restrictions.- Transit of Electricity.- Final Conclusions to Part 3.- Part 4: Towards a Coherent Regulatory Framework for International Electricity Trade.- Introduction.- An Integrated Approach for the Energy Sector or Electricity-Specific Rules?.- Building Blocks of a Multilateral Regulatory Regime for Electricity Trade.- Finding the Right Forum: Where Should Electricity-Specific Trade Rules be Defined?.- Final Conclusions to Part 4.- General Conclusions.