EU Member States agree on targeted reforms of electricity market in Europe Consumers should benefit from low power generation costs and be better protected against price fluctuations

During their meeting in Luxembourg today, EU Energy Ministers agreed on targeted adjustments to the electricity market in Europe. The rules adopted today aim to learn lessons from the crisis and in particular to make sure that consumers are better protected against price fluctuations and benefit from lower costs thanks to cheaper power generation.

Federal Minister Habeck said:

"Today, Europe demonstrated its ability to act. The agreement improves access of consumers and industry to less expensive electricity throughout Europe. The crisis year of 2022 has shown that the European electricity market basically works well. In spite of the huge problems, we jointly succeeded in securing our electricity supply during one of the biggest electricity crises in the history of Europe. The new electricity market design will further strengthen the electricity system.”

The EU’s new electricity market design helps consumers to benefit especially from less expensive costs of generating electricity from non-fossil fuels. This is important not least in order to ensure competitive prices in Europe during the transition. It also aims to guarantee price stability in times of crisis by better compensating for fluctuations on the electricity market. During the negotiations, Germany successfully advocated in particular a level playing field on the European electricity market.