Spain/Portugal to Join Markets

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will travel to Lisbon on Tuesday for a meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso. The two will use the occasion to sign the Iberian Electricity Market accord (MIBEL). The two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference after the ceremony.

The MIBEL is due to come into force, officially, on 20 April, however, its implementation by Portugal will occur, effectively, from the moment the accord is signed. In Spain the accord will be introduced only provisionally, until a new parliament, to be formed after the 14 March vote, ratifies it.