The relevance of cross-border transmission capacities for competition in the continental European electricity market

Competition in the European electricity markets is stagnating. To intensify cross-border competition, many experts and publications by the European Commission and other European organisations call for extensions of cross-border transmission lines. Yet, the arguments for conducting these investments are poor. The core objective of this paper is to analyse the relevance of cross-border transmission lines for competition in an integrated Continental European electricity market and to discuss future options for enhancing competition.