How Axpo, One of Switzerland’s Largest Companies, Uses EU Issue Tracker

Axpo is Switzerland’s largest producer of renewable energy and an international leader in energy trading and the marketing of solar and wind power. With 5,000+ employees, Axpo develops innovative energy solutions based on state-of-the-art technologies for its customers in over 30 countries including Europe, North America, and Asia. 

As Head of EU Energy Policy at Axpo, Eberhard Röhm-Malcotti is responsible for monitoring and acting on EU energy and financial market regulations relevant to Axpo’s power production, electricity, and gas wholesale business. One way Axpo can continue its success is by staying abreast of all legislation that could negatively or positively impact its operations. “Our aim is to contribute with our expertise to what is coming,” says Röhm-Malcotti of policy. “We try to track everything that is related to our business goals.” 

To track policy, Axpo uses EU Issue Tracker (EUIT). EUIT is FiscalNote’s European Union regulatory monitoring service. It monitors dossiers as they move through the EU institutions and combines human analysis, written by our policy team in Brussels, with technology to distribute updates to clients. 

Before Axpo began using EUIT over eight years ago, they relied on manual searches of public domain sites to gather their policy intel. The team would comb through each page daily to try to accumulate the information needed to make business decisions based on policy. Now, with the click of a button, they can gain access to the information that matters most. 

“We have over 100 pieces of legislation that we are actively tracking, and there might be 10 that are a top priority at [any] moment. With EUIT, I can get everything I need at a glance,” says Röhm-Malcotti. 

EUIT provides all of the official documents that make up a dossier, from each Institution — the Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council, and EU Agencies — as the dossier moves through the legislative procedure. 

Renewable energy is a hot topic policy-wise worldwide. But for a large utility like Axpo, knowing how policy is swaying on solar and wind power alternatives is crucial to its business needs when investing in technically and economically suitable locations. Information timeliness and accuracy are essential so that they can determine their company strategy. 

Additionally, stakeholder information and ensuring all team members are on the same page internally is another business value that EUIT brings to the table. “EUIT offers relevant names of public legislators who are working on a proposal, so I know exactly who to engage with on a specific issue. In public affairs, we define stakeholders as individuals who shape policy. Knowing who these stakeholders are is imperative to do our job.” says Röhm-Malcotti. “We use EUIT almost every day for our policy tracking needs.”