The ambition of the Slovak government to host the seat of the European energy regulator failed. A vote by EU member states decided on December 6 that the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators will be seated in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovakia's Economy Ministry said that Slovenia won 11 votes in the first round, Slovakia eight and Romania seven. The second round ended with 15 to 11 votes in favour of Slovenia, SITA wrote. Sweden, being at the helm of the EU, did not vote, according to the ministry.
Slovak Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek said that Slovakia did everything it could to succeed and that several countries voted surprisingly in the second round. Slovakia was very interested in hosting this authority and even Prime Minister Robert Fico and economy minister lobbied for the bid to locate the headquarters in Slovakia.
The authority will issue independent guidelines at the European Union level to supplement regulatory tasks entrusted to national regulators. One of its core tasks will be to ensure a framework for cooperation of national regulatory bodies and to decide on precisely defined cases such as terms for access to cross-border infrastructure. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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