The European Commission intends to publish a “consultation document" on the structural reform of the EU electricity market before the European Council of 15-16 December, announced the Deputy Director General of the Commission’s Energy Department (DG ENER), Mechthild Wörsdörfer, on Monday 14 November, during a debate with MEPs.
She then confirmed the institution’s intention to unveil a legislative proposal for “targeted reform” in the first quarter of 2022, “in February (or) “March”, while outlining the broad outlines of this initiative.
“The reform should (...) focus on two different sides of the electricity market: first, one side is the remuneration of renewables and other technologies based on their true production cost and secondly, the other side of the market, the effective competition for gas and well-functioning short term market”, she said.
In particular, the Commission intends to: - decouple consumer bills as much as possible from the price of the latest marginal technology, which is currently gas; - address price volatility, improve market liquidity and investment incentives; - ensure that the reform is truly fully integrated into the internal market in order to maintain trade in electricity between Member States; - establish good regulatory and institutional arrangements for the electricity sector to reap the full benefits of the energy transition.
Ms Wörsdörfer also said that due to the pressing demand from Member States, the Commission does not have time to carry out a proper impact assessment.
When asked about the possibility of generalising the Iberian system (see EUROPE 12968/4) to the whole of the EU to combat soaring energy prices - an option defended by France in particular - she seemed to reject this idea on the grounds that it would lead to an increase in gas demand. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)