Poland among the guilty named by EC for failing to open energy markets

Only two countries, namely, Denmark and the Netherlands apply the agreed directives despite the fact that the deadline for their implementation expired in July 2004. Therefore, the European Commission issued formal warnings to 17 member states on Tuesday. If Poland and other countries do not implement the relevant regulations the European Court of Justice may impose financial penalties. The EC claims that in Poland the gas transmission system is not sufficiently separated from the distribution of gas to the final customer. Poland also lacks a system to mark the sources of the energy origin so it is unclear whether the energy comes form ecological source or not. Finally, the EC repeated its reservations concerning the long-term contracts which guarantee that energy companies may sell energy for a fixed price. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B3) E.B.