Volterra Fietta hosts its second Energy Breakfast Seminar

Volterra Fietta Client Alert
25 May 2017

On 24 May, Volterra Fietta hosted its second Energy Breakfast Seminar in its London offices. The seminar, held under Chatham House rules, was entitled “Europe plots its course in the new energy landscape – international and domestic law in conflict?” and two highly distinguished guest speakers, Professor Catherine Redgwell of Oxford University and Mr Patrick Hébréard from CEG Europe, were invited to speak on the topic.  Partner Graham Coop chaired the seminar with partner Robert Volterra acting as commentator.

The seminar mostly focused on the economic and financial aspects of European Union (“EU”) regulation in the energy sector, highlighting the lack of EU integration on this sector as well as the lack of stability for investors due to the changing priorities of different European actors.  In particular, Mr Hébréard noted how certain initiatives such as the proposed Energy Union could pose several unforeseen risks for investors.

Mr Volterra noted that Europe is currently comprised of a patchwork of energy regulations, including within the EU, which makes it remarkably hard to establish whether common energy objectives are being pursued.  Further, he also highlighted that the European Commission has several energy-related aspirations which are not always implemented with sufficient predictability for investors in the energy sector to react appropriately to market and political risks.

The Firm is pleased to say that, once more, its objective of bringing together an intimate group of hand-picked energy experts in order to encourage a sincere and open discussion was a complete success.  Volterra Fietta is now looking forward to hosting its final Energy Breakfast Seminar to be held on 8 June.

The external speakers for the third and final Energy Breakfast Seminar include Dr Danae Azaria from University College London and Mr Tim Martin, an independent counsel, arbitrator and expert in energy cases.  The theme of the seminar will be “Energy transmission facilities: how have past disputes been resolved and how can future disputes be avoided?”.