EMU has landed: The trading impact of the Euro

Either by design, or by pure coincidence, the European power market will have embraced two fundamental structural changes within the first two months of 1999. On 1 January, eleven of the 15 European member countries – with the UK the most notable exception – signed over their economic and monetary policy to the European Central Bank in the first phase of economic and monetary union (EMU). On 19 February, the European Directive on electricity competition comes into effect requiring all member countries to open up at least 23 per cent of their market to competition. Jeremy Wilcox InfaScan Consultants