Electricity market reform: Paris challenges Berlin on the timetable

(EurActiv, 27 Feb 2023) Paris wants the EU’s electricity market reform completed by the end of the year, the French energy minister’s office said on Friday (24 February), challenging Berlin’s preference to wait until the 2024 European elections.

EU energy ministers are meeting on Monday and Tuesday (27 and 28 February) in Stockholm for an informal council meeting on energy issues.

High on the agenda will be the reform of the EU electricity market, which faced critique following the decrease in Russian gas supplies, highlighting the market’s limitations in managing price increases.

The European Commission will present a reform proposal on 14 March to make the market more resilient and prevent excessive price fluctuations.

However, neither the principle nor the timetable for the reform has yet reached a consensus among EU member states, particularly between France and Germany.

Berlin has called for waiting until after the European elections in May 2024, while Paris, through energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher’s office, reaffirmed on Friday its determination “to reach an agreement before the European elections”.

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EurActiv, 27 Feb 2023: Electricity market reform: Paris challenges Berlin on the timetable