On 13 July, 2005, the revised German Energy Act came into force, implementing the European Commission (EC) acceleration directives (2003/54/EC and 2003/55/EC) of 26 June, 2003. The original deadline for the implementation of the directives by member states was 1 July, 2004.
The Act introduced sweeping amendments to German energy law. Germany had been the only member state of the European Union (EU) to rely mainly on market mechanisms when opening its markets in 1998. The acceleration directives forced Germany to install regulatory authorities instead of continuing with its system of negotiated third-party access.
