The proposal of the third liberalisation package of the EU contains mainly a proposal of a Directive which will amend Directive 2003/54/ES on common rules for the internal market in electricity. The proposal imposes an obligation on member states to ensure implementation of ownership unbundling at the level of transmission system operators or establishment of an independent system operator within one year following the transposition of the Directive into their national law. So, the proposal of the Directive contains two alternative solutions and can be considered as a concession to member states, which expressed their disapproval to ownership unbundling. An ownership separation of the transmission system in the Czech Republic took place already 4 years ago, and the operator and owner of the transmission system, CEPS, is 100% owned by the state. It only confirms the fact that the Czech Republic is one of the leaders of the process of electricity market liberalisation in the EU.

CEZ also supports the part of the liberalisation package establishing an agency for cooperation of energy regulatory offices as a new communitory organ with legal identity. The Agency should publish opinions for transmission system operators, regulatory offices, European Commission and make individual decisions towards energy companies. CEZ sees the coordination of the activities of national regulatory offices as the best means to integrate their decision-making practices. However, it believes that powers of the new organ need to be exactly and exhaustively determined in the final version of the new Regulation.

The third amended regulation is the Resolution No 1228/2003 on Conditions for Access to the Network for Cross-border Electricity Trade. The proposal of the Regulation states that transmission system operators should cooperate within Europe through the European Transmission System Operator as an organ accountable to the European Commission. Within the European network, a ten-year investment plan for the whole EU will be adopted and, along with that, an obligation to cooperate at regional level will be imposed on transmission system operators. CEZ considers the regional cooperation of transmission system operators essential for the improvement of interconnection capacities, which the company finds crucial for the creation of a single European energy market. At the same time, CEZ regards increasing cross-border capacities as one of the measures needed to cover the growing demand for electricity in Europe. That must, however, be accompanied by construction of new resources.