Leipzig, 12 December 2016. On 9 December, the Exchange Council of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) held their fourth and final meeting of 2016 in Vienna. The meeting was chaired by Dr Michael Redanz, Managing Director of EWE Trading GmbH. In addition to confirming the introduction of Swiss Base Day and Weekend Futures, the Exchange Council discussed the implications of a potential split of the German-Austrian bidding zone following the recent announcements by the German Federal Network Agency and ACER. The Exchange Council registered their collective objection to such a split and proposed a number of recommedations regarding the next steps.
On 28 October, the Federal Network Agency requested TSOs to prepare measures for congestion management at the German/Austrian border to be put in place no later than 3 July 2018. This was followed by a decision from ACER on the 18 November which issued a recommendation for a split.
As it has made clear in its earlier statements, the Exchange Council remains convinced that a split would be a step backwards for the market, as it would negatively affect liquidity in Europe’s lead power derivatives market. In addition, such a decision would go against the very idea of European integration, as its end result would be smaller rather than larger markets.
The Exchange Council agreed that an appropriate transition period of at least three
years is required to safeguard market liquidity especially for the Phelix futures. In addition, it considers the chosen date – 3 July 2018 – particularly difficult as this would affect the full range of maturities in Phelix futures. The Council also sees the decision by the Federal Network Agency as pre-empting the official, on-going bidding zone review process, which results it will have to respect. However, the Council welcomes
the announcement by Bundesnetzagentur to hold an official workshop on the process in December in which exchanges will take part as well. The Exchange Council has long called for such a workshop to promote greater involvement of the market in the decision-making process.
The Exchange Council also approved the introduction of Day and Weekend Futures for the Swiss market area. EEX has gradually extended its product offering in the Swiss power derivatives market since 2013. Starting from Trade Registration-only contracts with monthly, quarterly and yearly expiries, EEX went on to successfully launch an exchange orderbook in 2015 followed by weekly futures in 2016. As a result of these positive developments and in response to customer feedback, particularly those who are active in Italian power also, the Exchange Council agreed to introduce Day and Weekend Base Futures for the Swiss market area, to be launched in spring 2017.
The Exchange Council of EEX is an official body of the exchange under the German Exchange Act. It consists of a total of 24 members who expertly represent the various relevant interest groups and business circles. In addition to the trading participants who are represented by 19 elected members from five different voting groups, four representatives from associations and one representative of energy science belong to the Exchange Council. The tasks of the Exchange Council include the formulation of the rules and regulations of the exchange and their amendments. The Exchange Council is also tasked with the supervision of the Management Board of the Exchange and the appointment of the Head of the Market Surveillance.
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