The Commission also held OPCOM’s parent company Transelectrica (TEL.RO) liable for the infringement.
It said OPCOM’s requirement that all electricity traders must have a Romanian VAT registration, and consequently must establish business premises in Romania and operate from there, discriminates against foreign traders and inhibits competition on the local electricity market.
“OPCOM’s abusive behavior prevented EU traders from joining the Romanian power exchange’s spot markets, creating an artificial barrier to entry in breach of EU competition rules,” said Joaquin Almunia, Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy.
The Commission opened antitrust proceedings into OPCOM’s behavior on the Romanian spot exchange markets in December 2012.
In a separate decision Wednesday, the Commission also fined France’s EPEX Spot and Norway’s Nord Pool Spot a total of EUR5.98 million for agreeing not to compete with each other for their spot electricity trading services in the European Economic Area.
“Such behavior breaches EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive practices,” the Commission said.