Italian policy-makers have been among the most enthusiastic supporters in Europe of the liberalisation of the energy sector. They implemented reforms inspired by the competition-based model offered by the United Kingdom (UK), often before the European Union (EU) made them compulsory. For instance, an independent sector specific regulator –the Autorità per l’Energia Elettrica e il Gas (AEEG)– was created in 1995, significantly before the French Commission de Régulation de l’Electricité (CRE) (2000) and the German cross-sectoral Bundesnetzagentur (2005).