LA REGULACIÓN JURÍDICA DEL SECTOR ELÉCTRICO PORTUGUÉS Y LA APLAZADA EMERGENCIA DEL MERCADO IBÉRICO DE LA ENERGÍA ELÉCTRICA (MIBEL)

Abstract

The article examines the so-called reform of the electricity industry from the viewpoint of Portuguese legal doctrine. It is intended to transform a public-sector monopoly run by a vertically integrated enterprise into a market in which private-sector companies compete, thereby facilitating the creation of an Iberian energy market. The reform has largely been driven through by EU directives, albeit with fervent support from elite business and political circles in the country. The authors nonetheless harbour serious doubts about it based on legal reflection and economic logic. It seems evident that these doubts can only be properly clarified by looking deeper into the fundamental principles sustaining them. However, the recent legal regulation of the industry does not seem to have contributed much in this respect In a context of uncertainty and mistrust, this study tries to define the basic assumptions underlying the single Iberian electricity market (MIBEL) and propose a hypothesis as to whether or not the latest reform represents a sound beginning for its creation.