The S&D, EPP, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA rapporteurs on electricity market reform (EMD) reached a political compromise agreement on Thursday 6 July, which will be voted on by Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on 19 July.
“The European Parliament is faster than the Council (see EUROPE 13213/9). We managed to do it in less than three months, which shows that we can be very quick in Parliament. In this way, we are showing that when there are negotiations, even on difficult issues, we can still find compromises”, praised shadow rapporteur Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA, German).
The two most important points of debate concerned the proposed cap on inframarginal income in times of crisis and the terms and conditions governing two-way compensatory contracts for differences (CfD).
The first point was put forward by the rapporteur Nicolás González Casares (S&D, Spanish) in his initial proposal (see EUROPE 13182/7) and was ultimately not retained. This cap on income from inframarginal technologies was an absolute red line for the EPP group.
“This would mean opening the door to unacceptable market interference and would be detrimental to investment, particularly in renewable energies. Fortunately, our position prevailed and we were able to find a compromise that best serves the interests of all stakeholders”, said shadow rapporteur Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP, Portuguese).
In the case of CfDs, the rapporteurs agreed that they are not compulsory, since other support schemes are authorised. Nor are they retroactive, since they only apply to new production capacity (including nuclear power stations).
Flexibility is also left to the Member States in the use of these revenues, which can benefit consumers in general, with particular attention paid to the most vulnerable consumers and to investment in the energy transition, including the development of networks.
Shadow rapporteur Marina Mesure (The Left, French) described the results as “disappointing” and regretted, among other things, the compromise reached on CfDs and PPAs (‘Power purchase agreements’) (see EUROPE 13141/1) which “have been transformed into public subsidies for private producers without any quid pro quo. There are no criteria for calculating the price of these contracts, and the environmental and social impact of future subsidised means of production will not be taken into account”.
The rapporteurs would like interinstitutional negotiations with the EU Council to be able to start in the autumn, without having to go through a plenary vote in Parliament, and they will therefore be submitting their compromise amendments to the ITRE Committee for a vote on 19 July. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)