Three weeks ago, 138 employees at the charging company Easee were notified of layoffs. The layoffs came into effect on Tuesday. – Now we are back from a well-deserved Easter holiday, and the atmosphere is good, but many are probably thinking about those who have been made redundant. Now we are focusing on the job of turning the tide so that those who have been made redundant can return, says communications manager Kenneth Bjerga to news. They are prepared for the fact that the matter may take time, and according to Bjerga, they have taken the necessary measures accordingly. – That is why we have laid off many employees and cut costs. In addition, we are in a process where we will seek to bring in more capital, he says. Hope more countries will do their own investigation Now work will also be done to prevent more countries stopping the sale of what is probably the world’s best-selling electric car charger. The Swedish governing authorities’ decision to stop the sale of Easee’s charging stations Easee Home and Easee Charge in February, basically leads to a stoppage of sales in the entire EEA area. Last week Stavanger Aftenblad was able to report that it is now also moving towards a possible hall ban in the Netherlands. According to Bjerga in Easee, they will not know anything more about this until next week. Nor is he aware that other countries have followed the example of Swedish governments. – We are in dialogue with governing authorities in several countries and have offered them a comprehensive documentation package. We want more countries to follow Norway’s example and start their own investigation, he says. Kenneth Bjerga, communications manager at Easee. Photo: Tom Edvinsen / news Within parts of the EU’s own administrative bodies there are rules that decisions in one country are also valid in other states. In other parts of administrative law, it is not the case that you are legally obliged to follow suit. This means that you can make your own assessments. In Norway, as Bjerga says, they have set up their own investigation. Can be saved by Norwegian governing powers John-Eivind Velure is department director at Nkom, and explains that it is basically the case that a decision in an EU/EEA country must be followed up in all other member countries. – When a decision has been made in a country, what is called a Safe Guard process is created in the EU. This means that the individual member states can make their own assessments and report the outcome of these to the European Commission within 90 days, writes Velure to news. If one or more countries object to the Swedish decision, the European Commission must enter into a dialogue with the member states and the actor who has had the decision directed against them, and evaluate the measures taken by the Swedish authorities. John-Eivind Velure, department director at Nkom. Photo: Victoria Marie Nordahl / news Based on the result, the commission will decide whether the decision from the Swedish governing authorities is appropriate or not. – If the commission decides that the decision is in place, the other member states will have an obligation to follow this up in their national markets. If the commission comes to the conclusion that the decision is not in its place, the Swedish governing authorities will have to withdraw their decision, he says. Nkom has announced that they will have their own investigation of Easee chargers ready in May. Bjerga tells news that they now hope that other countries disagree with the Swedes, but admits that the company has not been good enough with documentation. – We consider the chances that other countries are at odds with the Swedes as high. Through innovation, we have always put safety first, but we have not been good enough at documentation. Our products are among the safest on the market, and we think other countries will see that when they read the documentation and do any tests, he says. Easee’s charging box is among the best-selling charging boxes in the world. Photo: Tom Edvindsen Product launched in Great Britain But there is one area where Easee can still invest fully. Great Britain. Recently it became known that Easee launched an additional product called Easee Equalizer in the UK. With such an Equalizer, you avoid power cuts and overloading when you charge your electric car. According to Easee, this means that you can both charge smarter, safer and faster. There is enormous potential in the UK market. In the last year alone, the number of electric cars has grown from 395,000 to 690,000 cars, according to the website Zapmap. The UK has announced a ban on the sale of purely fossil-fuel cars in 2030. In September 2022, 33.1 million cars were registered in the country. Trygve Harlem Losnedahl, doctoral fellow at the Center for European Law. As many may have realised, the UK has left the EU and the EEA agreement. Can be a loophole But investing in the UK can be a loophole for Norwegian companies that are subject to sales refusals in EEA countries. – The UK is not subject to the same rules, and the UK and Norway no longer have the close cooperation at administrative level, says Trygve Harlem Losnedahl, doctoral fellow at the Center for European Law.
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Easee can be saved by the European Commission – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
