Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel visits EEX

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the European Energy Exchange AG (EEX) today. Together with a delegation comprising Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich and Mayor of the City of Leipzig Burkhard Jung she acquainted herself with the exchange on site.

In addition to a visit to the Market Supervision of EEX, the programme included an expert meeting with the management of the exchange. At the Market Supervision the Federal Chancellor was provided information on the pricing mechanism on the exchange and she watched the current developments for power, natural gas and emission rights (www.eex.com) and electronic trading live on screen. Moreover, data regarding power generation in Germany which is important for trading in power was displayed via the website of the EEX transparency platform (www.transparency.eex.com).

The Federal Chancellor also talked to Jean-François Conil-Lacoste, Chief Executive Officer of the Franco-German subsidiary EPEX Spot SE, in Paris via a permanent videoconference with the EPEX Market Supervision. EPEX Spot operates the Power Spot Markets for Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland.

"We are extremely pleased that Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel has chosen the EEX as a stop during her tour focusing on energy", Hans-Bernd Menzel, Chief Executive Officer of EEX commented. "To us the visit by the Federal Chancellor is both confirmation and recognition as an exchange under public law and an independent institution which has the task of transparently and safely matching supply and demand in the energy markets."