The reaction from the Russian side was both swift and hypocritical.
At the heart of the measures is the concept of "unbundling," whereby power generation companies are required to sell off transmission networks to provide consumers with more choice and to attract investment for the continent's energy grid.
Russia is actually following an unbundling policy of its own, with the difference that the state maintains ownership of transmission assets that would go to private companies under the European plan.
Further undercutting hopes for liberalizing the sector has been Gazprom's snapping up of generating assets as they become available.
Both Gazprom and the Kremlin have been open about their plans to turn the company into an integrated energy giant not only within Russia, but also in foreign markets -- first and foremost in Europe.
These plans at least partly explain the European Commission's proposal that foreign companies buying transmission assets not enjoy monopolist positions and must first be cleared through Brussels.
If adopted, the measures will have no different effect than Moscow's efforts to regulate entry to what it has identified as a strategic sector.
The most obvious example of the government's approach was in the approval earlier this year of a law prohibiting any company -- whether foreign or Russian -- from owning gas pipelines in Russia. Transneft, the state oil pipeline operator, enjoys the same protection in the petroleum sector.
Faced with Western calls for access to pipeline assets, Moscow has made it clear that foreign companies have to play by Russia's rules in the sector.
So be it.
The Russian side, unfortunately, seems unprepared to accept that energy security is a strategic consideration for Europe as well.
"Such limits are against the free market spirit of the European Union and amount to state protectionism," Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said about the plan Wednesday.
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, called for reciprocal measures, although he might find it difficult to draft legislation limiting foreign ownership of energy transmission networks to less than the zero percent already in place.
The comments were, to put it bluntly, ridiculous.
To expect the European Union to allow a foreign, state-owned energy supermonopoly to go on a shopping spree while it is trying to break up its own private energy monopolies to promote competition is simply absurd.
If European companies have to play by Russia's rules in Russia, why shouldn't it be the same the other way around?
Via| The Moscow TimesAlgeria shrugs off European Union´s energy proposals
Algeria said on Saturday it is not concerned by European Union plans to open gas and electricity markets to more competition while limiting foreign ownership of EU assets.
Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said the EU had not taken a final decision and it would not concern Algeria's state-owned oil and gas firm Sonatrach.
"They (EU new energy rules) would not affect my country because Algeria already allows foreign firms to be present on its market, so I don't see why we should not be present in the European market too," Khelil told state radio.
He said: "We need to wait for the final decision, and then we will see whether it would be positive or negative for Sonatrach's activities in Europe."
The European Union executive on Wednesday adopted hard-fought energy proposals aimed at forcing big utilities such as Germany's E.ON and Electricite de France to separate power generation from their distribution networks.
The new rules will also bar foreign firms from controlling European energy networks unless they play by European Union rules and their home country reaches an agreement with Brussels, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Algeria is a major supplier of gas to Europe, particularly Spain, Italy and France.
Its current output is estimated at 62 billion cubic metres per year, and it is expected to reach 85 billion per year by 2015.
