tilities such as electricity were vertically integrated, state-owned, franchise monopolies. They were protected by the Treaty of Rome on account of the fact that they provided 'essential services of national interest to member states' (Newberg, 2001). Thus, in the modern era, the notion of 'liberalisation' has come into favor on account of the perceived benefits associated with it.
             The electricity and Gas directives, which were adopted in 1996 and 1998 and had to be implemented in February 1999 and August 2000 respectively, have gone some way to the continued pursuit of a single market in Europe without internal frontiers. They also represent an important benchmark in the creation of an internal market in these sectors, as well as a liberalised market. The objective of these directives is to open up electricity and gas markets in the hope of increasing the efficiency of the energy sector, leading to an overall increase in the general competitiveness of the European Economy as a whole. This is to be achieved through the gradual introduction of competition. (Completing the Internal Energy Market, 2001).
             Electricity is the most important source of energy and the electricity industry is one of the largest sectors of the economy in Europe. Energy costs also represent a sizeable share of EU production, thus it is of utmost importance to ensure that energy costs are kept to a minimum in order to heighten EU competitiveness on a global scale (Completing the Internal Market, 2001).
             Now that the stage has been set as to the enormity of the process of deregulation, I would like to discuss some of the major challenges that liberalisation presents to the EU as a whole. From my analysis of the situation, the process of liberalisation in its entirety is somewhat of a 'minefield', and needs to be approached with extreme caution.
             The cynics see it as a project doomed for failure. They look to the example...