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A blueprint for a European transmission system / Georg Zachmann, EU Energy Policy blog, 18/03/2013http://www.energypolicyblog.com/2013/03/18/a-blueprint-for-a-european-transmission-system/The European Commission’s proposal is supposed to deliver more cross-border electricity transmission.It is an extension of the current system of national-welfare centred regulations, a system which does not target the optimisation of the EU electricity network, and as such is inconsistent with a truly single market. However, the integrated first-best solution – a single European system operator, regulated by a single regulator, which develops the network in coordination with generators and consumers – appears politically infeasible. To overcome this, we propose a bold blueprint for a European system to fund and incentivise infrastructure development. The approach is fourfold: (1) implement vertical unbundling; (2) add a European system-management layer; (3) establish a stringent planning process; and (4) phase-in European cost-sharing...