European Parliament Reaches Broad Deal On Power Market Reform

The European Parliament has reached a broad agreement on the proposed electricity market reform, designed to prevent a repeat of last year’s energy crisis.   

“We have a DEAL,” tweeted Nicolas Gonzalez Casares, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the reform proposed by the European Commission earlier this year.

A broad agreement among European Parliament groups S&D, Renew, Greens, and EPP has been reached, he added. The deal includes a ban on disconnection of vulnerable customers, gives more rights to consumers, and provides for better triggering of emergency measures, Casares said. 

The European Commission in March presented a proposal to revise the rules for electricity market design and for improving the EU protection against market manipulation in the wholesale energy market.

The Commission says that the market reform is aimed at making the EU energy market more resilient and making the energy bills of European consumers and companies more independent from the short-term market price of electricity. The EU’s new electricity market design would accelerate a surge in renewables and the phase-out of gas, make consumer bills less dependent on volatile fossil fuel prices, better protect consumers from future price spikes and potential market manipulation, and make the EU’s industry clean and more competitive, the Commission says. 

The proposal has now passed to the Council and the European Parliament for debate and negotiation, with the market reform expected to be voted on later this year. 

The European Union member states failed to agree last month on the proposed reforms, after a last-minute proposal from rotating president Sweden about extending state support for coal power.

The Parliament’s industry committee is expected to vote on July 19 on the “broad agreement” among the EP groups. The European Parliament is set to vote on the reform in September, before final negotiations with EU member states in the autumn.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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