The EU reaches an agreement to reform the electricity market to protect consumers from price increases

MADRID, 14 (EUROPA PRESS)

Negotiators from the Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on electricity market reform that aims to make electricity prices less dependent on fossil fuels to protect consumers.

The measures include giving Member States the possibility to exclusively support the purchase of new renewable generation when conditions allow through power purchase agreements (PPAs) and establishes the criteria for declaring a crisis related to high prices.

Both institutions have addressed the possibility of reducing electricity prices for vulnerable and disadvantaged customers, implementing protection against disconnections and incorporating provisions aimed at avoiding "undue" distortions in the market.

The text, agreed between the parties this Thursday in Strasbourg, must now be formally endorsed and adopted by both institutions. Promoting this reform has been one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which expires in January 2024.

"This agreement is great news, as it will help us further reduce the EU's dependence on Russian gas and promote fossil fuel-free energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," explained the third vice president of the Government. and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.

Likewise, he has indicated that, thanks to the agreement, markets will be stabilized in the long term, accelerate the deployment of renewable and fossil-free energy sources, offer more affordable electricity to EU citizens and improve industrial competitiveness.

The socialist MEP Nicolás González Casares, for his part, has celebrated the agreement "after ten hours" of negotiations, highlighting that now "Europe has a socially fair electricity market design that will better protect citizens, especially the most vulnerable, with measures that will guarantee affordable prices for citizens and companies, and accelerate the energy transition."

"In addition, Parliament has achieved a market design that takes a step forward in the democratization of energy. Parliament has known how to work at lightning speed to achieve an agreement that provides answers to many of the failures exposed by the energy crisis. and to the expectations of citizens," he stated.

The proposal is part of a broader reform of the design of the EU electricity market, which also includes a regulation focused on improving protection against market manipulation through better supervision and transparency (REMIT), which the Twenty-seven agreed in June.