Estonia, which will hold the presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of this year, has made establishing a stable and properly-functioning electricity market and empowering consumers its priority for energy, an Estonian source told us on Wednesday 28 June.
The incoming Estonian Presidency has put the design of the electricity market at the heart of its plans and, along with its links to the policy on the digital economy, it will be central to the informal meeting of EU energy ministers in Tallinn form 19 to 21 September.
From the legislative point of view, the Estonian Presidency is looking to conclude the trialogue agreements with the European Parliament and the Commission on the two texts from the clean energy package on energy efficiency: the revised draft directive on energy efficiency and the revised draft directive on the energy performance of buildings. It was only with some difficulty that the Council agreed joint positions on the two texts under the Maltese Presidency (see EUROPE 11816). “We will try to open trialogue talks as quickly as possible. We are waiting for the European Parliament positions, hopefully at the start of October”, our source said.
The Estonian Presidency will also “try to get as many general approaches as possible” by December on the six other texts making up the package of measures on clean energy: the four texts on the organisation of the electricity market – the draft revised directive on common rules for the electricity market, the revised draft directive on the electricity market, the draft revised regulation on ACER and the draft regulation on risk preparedness in the electricity sector – and the draft revised directive on renewable energy and the draft governance mechanism for energy and climate policies. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)