BRUSSELS, Sept 19: The European Commission called on Wednesday for major gas and electricity suppliers to split from their pipelines and power grids in the hope of infusing more competition into the sector.

Laying out a sweeping shake-up of the energy industry, the European Union’s executive arm said that “tough conditions” were also needed on foreign companies to ensure a level playing field with suppliers from abroad.

If the Commission’s eagerly -- and uneasily — awaited proposals go ahead, the days are numbered for big integrated companies that both produce gas and electricity and then transmit energy to retail distribution. The package of proposals has to be approved by the EU’s 27 member states and the European Parliament.

The EU’s executive arm has long lamented what it considers to be a lack of competition in a sector as essential to Europe’s economy as providing gas and electricity.—AFP