Court of Justice 28 October 2004, C-17/03 (Vereniging voor Energie, Milieu en Water and Others v Directeur van de Dienst uitvoering en toezicht energie.)

Opinion of the Advocate-General Opinion of the Advocate-General I – Introduction 1. Directive 96/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (2) (hereinafter, ‘the Directive’ or ‘Directive 96/92’) introduced a second phase in the liberalisation of the electricity market within the Community.