Bundeskartellamt calls for more competition in the provision of charging electricity - Preliminary findings of sector inquiry into charging infrastructure

The Bundeskartellamt has today published a progress report on its ongoing sector inquiry into charging station infrastructure (“Sector inquiry on the provision and marketing of publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles”).

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "Effective competition concerning the charging stations will help to promote nationwide coverage, reasonable prices and a range of choice for final consumers. In order to ensure this, we have to provide for open and non-discriminatory access to the market already in the current phase of infrastructure development. By making suitable public areas available and granting subsidies, the state itself holds the key to more competition with regard to the charging stations.”

Access to public areas

The preliminary findings of the sector inquiry show that little use has yet been made of public tender procedures for public areas particularly at municipal level. In some cases, these areas are awarded fully or for the most part to one and the same operator, e.g. the municipal utility. A legal requirement for the non-discriminatory award of these areas, e.g. by way of a tender procedure, could help to improve conditions for the emergence of competitive market structures in the area of public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Allocation of funds

To ensure public access to the market and a level playing field for all providers, the allocation of state funds fundamentally has to be carried out on a non-discriminatory basis. Against this background it is to be welcomed that the government is making use of the instrument of public tender for the allocation of funds for a Germany-wide network of fast charging stations, the so-called “Germany network” ("Deutschlandnetz"). However, the actual tender specifications should take sufficient account of the competitive objectives.

In particular, the chosen lot size and structure are key factors in the development of competitive structures. However, in the Bundeskartellamt’s view, setting upper price limits for charging tariffs as intended for the nationwide “Germany network” of fast charging stations, is not conducive to competition. Such regulatory-type requirements distort competition and could squeeze out existing or planned private offers and stand in the way of quick expansion.

Conditions of access to the charging stations and regional structures

The progress report also explains the existing approaches under competition law to ensuring competitive structures and reviewing practices of providers which could potentially impede competition. Competition law provides a generally suitable toolbox to promote and ensure the competitive operation of public charging infrastructure. Apart from merger control, the control of abusive practices in particular provides the Bundeskartellamt with further tools. These were further enhanced by the 10th amendment to the GWB to protect dependent companies.

Andreas Mundt: “In our assessment, a regulated transmission model as already applied to electricity networks is not the right approach. As far as public and non-discriminatory access to the market is ensured, complex regulation which can be prone to error especially in the early market phase, can and should be prevented.”

Development of EV charging electricity prices

High prices are naturally always annoying for all customers. However, the Bundeskartellamt’s investigations have so far not produced any evidence that the EV charging electricity prices in Germany are systematically and generally excessive. Should individual cases of abusively excessive prices emerge, the authority could intervene with the existing competition law tools. Prices will fall with increasing infrastructure expansion and competition on this market.

User friendliness of charging stations and lack of transparency on charging tariffs

Andreas Mundt: “Transparency on prices and the user friendliness of the charging stations leave room for improvement. In addition to intensive competition, targeted regulatory provisions could bring about the necessary improvements. The market and competition conditions in public charging infrastructure are still fundamentally different from those in the classical petrol station sector. I am therefore also sceptical whether it would be useful to extend the competences of the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels to charging tariffs. In our view, this aspect should first be examined in more detail.”

The progress report summarises the Bundeskartellamt's preliminary findings on structural obstacles to competition in the installation and marketing of publicly accessible charging infrastructure. The final results and recommendations for action will be presented in a final report after the extensive data and information collected in the sector inquiry has been fully evaluated.

The progress report and a summary of the key findings are available here (in German only).