The history of legislation in the field of the European Union’s energy markets covers 4 major sets of legislative measures adopted, respectively, in years: 1996/98, 2003, 2009, 2018.

              
                
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The process started with the adoption of:

- the Directive 96/92/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity, and
- the Directive 98/30/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in gas.

The first and the second legislative packages focused on development of market access, notably, the Directive 2003/54/EC and the Directive 2003/55/EC introduced the free choice of electricity and gas suppliers.

The Treaty of Lisbon (2007) enshrined in the EU treaties energy policy as a shared competence between Member States and the EU.

 

Third Energy Package

clip2   Links


Electricity market design

 

Actions and measures on energy prices
 

Energy union for Europe - Timeline, European Council’s website

 

Energy Union factsheets for EU countries

 

The Third Energy Package was adopted in 2009 with the aim to further liberalise and integrate Europe's energy markets.

The Package pursues the general objective of completing the European Union Internal Energy Market (IEM) and contains provisions on a number of aspects related to electricity and gas supplies, in particular in the following areas: 

With regard to consumer protection, the Third Energy Package prescribes the EU Member States to define the concept of vulnerable consumers at the national level and adopt the measures to protect such consumers and to address energy poverty.

The Third Energy Package consists of the following legal instruments:

Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC,

Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity,

Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC,

Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005,

Regulation (EC) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators.

 

Winter Energy Package (Clean Energy for All Europeans Package - CEP)

 

In November 2016 another set of legislative of proposals (known as the ‘Winter Energy Package’ or ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans Package’ or CEP) was released by the European Commission. The aim of the Winter Energy Package was to deal with new challenges facing energy markets, mainly demand response, renewable and decentral generation.

The new package consisted, inter alia, of the following elements:

- Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the internal market for electricity (recast), 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 861 final 2016/0379 (COD),

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the internal market in electricity (recast), 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 864 final 2016/0380 (COD),

- Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Governance of the Energy Union, amending Directive 94/22/EC, Directive 98/70/EC, Directive 2009/31/EC, Regulation (EC) No 663/2009, Regulation (EC) No 715/2009, Directive 2009/73/EC, Council Directive 2009/119/EC, Directive 2010/31/EU, Directive 2012/27/EU, Directive 2013/30/EU and Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 759 final 2016/0375 (COD),

- Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing Directive 2005/89/EC, 30.11.2016 COM(2016) 862 final, 2016/0377 (COD),

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) COM/2016/0767 final/2 - 2016/0382 (COD),

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency (COM(2016) 761 final 2016/0376 (COD)).

The two core elements of this legislative initiative were the proposed directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity (which recasts Directive 2009/72/EC and concentrates on the role of customers in the electricity market) and the proposed internal electricity market regulation, which is focussed on the wholesale electricity market and the grid operation.

The said legislation was intended to amend existing energy market rules, among other things, in the following areas:

1. in the wholesale electricity markets Winter Energy Package proposed to remove:
- wholesale price cap,
- priority dispatch for mature renewable installations;

2. when it comes to electricity networks important modifications were envisioned by the Winter Energy Package as regards regional cooperation of system operation (in particular the creation of Regional Operational Centres);

3. in the retail electricity market, according to the the Winter Energy Package:
- consumers must have access to certified energy price comparison tools (PCTs),
- dynamic electricity price contracts will have to be made available,
- switching-related charges are prohibited.

Winter Energy Package also envisions the creation of the EU DSO entity to cooperate with Transmission System Operators (TSOs). Underlying assumptions of the Winter Energy Package and overall EU energy policy is that in general well-functioning electricity markets should ensure the security of supply (the security of electricity supply is defined as ‘the ability of an electricity system to guarantee an uninterrupted supply of electricity to consumers with a clearly defined level of performance’).

Inherent feature of this approach is that price limitations should be avoided so that electricity prices reflect actual demand and supply, and thus incentivise investments in generation capacity, interconnected transmission networks and flexibility of demand (demand response).

The first Council’s debate on the Winter Energy Package was held on 27 February 2017. The European Commission’s proposals underwent multiple changes after rounds of trilogues between representatives of the European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament and European Council). Political agreement on the Package was reached in December 2018.

The publication of the Winter Energy Package in the EU Official Journal has been completed on 14 June 2019. On this date in the OJ L 158 have been published:

- Regulation (EU) 2019/941 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing Directive 2005/89/EC,

- Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 establishing a European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators,
- Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity,
- Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU.

The recast Electricity Directive (2019/944) entered into force on 4 July 2019 (20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union) and is to be transposed into national legislation by 31 December 2020. 

  

Gas package adjustments

 

Next wave of necessary legislative adaptations to changing market circumstances is envisioned in the European Commission’s Inception Impact Assessment of 10 February 2021 (Hydrogen and Gas markets Decarbonisation Package Ref. Ares(2021)1159348).

The said document covers legislative proposals for :
- revision of Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC,
- revision of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005.

It is observed that, the Gas Directive and the Gas Regulation are primarily designed for the organisation and functioning of the current fossil-based natural gas sector. They do neither anticipate the emergence of alternative methane gases, such as bio- or synthetic-methane, or other gaseous fuels, such as hydrogen, nor different production patterns. For instance, they do not integrate the distributed production of renewable and low-carbon gases and they do not prevent disruptions caused by changing gas quality.

This focus on natural gas must change to support the deployment of decarbonised gases.

 

 

chronicle   Regulatory chronicle

 

 

19 December 2023

 

Energy prices and security of supply: Council agrees to extend emergency measures

Prolongation of emergency regulations on security of supply and energy prices: Council adopts measures

 

14 December 2023

 

Reform of electricity market design: Council and Parliament reach deal

 

24 October 2023

 

Eighth Report on the State of the Energy Union

 

November 2023

 

Progress of EU electricity wholesale market integration, ACER 2023 Market Monitoring Report


26 October 2023

 

Legislative proposal for a Regulation to improve the Union’s electricity market design ENTSO-E assessment - trilogues

 

17 October 2023 

 

Reform of electricity market design: Council reaches agreement

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2019/943 and (EU) 2019/942 as well as Directives (EU) 2018/2001 and (EU) 2019/944 to improve the Union’s electricity market design - Council general approach

 

September 2023

 

Energy Retail and Consumer Protection 2023, ACER Market Monitoring Report

 

14 July 2023

 

Assessment of emergency measures in electricity markets, 2023 Market Monitoring Report, ACER

 

15 June 2023

 

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1162 of 6 June 2023 on interoperability requirements and non-discriminatory and transparent procedures for access to metering and consumption data (Text with EEA relevance) published in the EU Official Journal

 

5 June 2023

 

Report from the Commission on the review of emergency interventions to address high energy prices in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 (COM(2023) 302 final) - European Commission confirms that it will not propose a prolongation of crisis measures


5 April 2023

 

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/736 of 31 March 2023 on the definition of the technical details of the application of the market correction mechanism to derivatives linked to virtual trading points in the Union other than the TTF published in the EU Official Journal

 

14 March 2023

 

Commission proposes reform of the EU electricity market design to boost renewables, better protect consumers and enhance industrial competitiveness

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2019/943 and (EU) 2019/942 as well as Directives (EU) 2018/2001 and (EU) 2019/944 to improve the Union’s electricity market design

Commission Staff Working Document, SWD(2023) 58 final

 

14 February 2023

 

ACER-CEER Reaction to the European Commission’s public consultation on electricity market design

 

ENTSO-E's Response to the European Commission Public Consultation on Electricity Market Design

 

23 January 2023

 

Consultation, electricity market – reform of the EU’s electricity market design


29 December 2022

 

Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2578 of 22 December 2022 establishing a market correction mechanism to protect Union citizens and the economy against excessively high prices published in the EU Official Journal.

The market correction mechanism sets a bidding limit on certain financial derivatives traded at EU exchanges. This bidding limit is activated when specific conditions are met.

 

22 December 2022


Council formally adopts temporary mechanism to limit excessive gas prices

 

19 December 2022

 

Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a market correction mechanism to protect citizens and the economy against excessively high prices following the political agreement at the TTE (Energy) Council on 19 December 2022

 

14 December 2022


Provisional agreement reached on REPowerEU

 

14 September 2022

 

Proposal for a Council Regulation on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices, 2022/0289 (NLE)

 

18 May 2022

 

European Commission Communication Short-Term Energy Market Interventions and Long Term Improvements to the Electricity Market Design – a course for action (COM(2022) 236 final) - “Looking beyond the short term, the Commission considers that, based on the ACER report and its outreach to stakeholders, the current electricity market design delivers an efficient, well integrated market, allowing Europe to reap all the economic benefits of a single energy market, ensuring security of supply and sustaining the decarbonisation process”,

European Commission Communication, REPowerEU Plan, COM(2022) 230 finalPress release

 

31 March 2021

 
Options for the design of European Electricity Markets in 2030 Discussion Paper for Stakeholder Consultation, ENTSO-E

 

ENTSO-E Consultation

 

10 February 2021

 

Inception Impact Assessment, Hydrogen and Gas markets Decarbonisation Package, Ref. Ares(2021)1159348 - 10/02/2021

Legislative proposals:
- Revision of Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC
- Revision of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005

 

23 July 2019

 

Public Consultation on The Bridge beyond 2025, PC_2019_G_06, ACER

  

25 June 2019

 

Council conclusions on the future of energy systems in the Energy Union to ensure the energy transition and the achievement of energy and climate objectives towards 2030 and beyond

 

14 June 2019

 

Regulation (EU) 2019/941 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing Directive 2005/89/EC,


Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 establishing a European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators,


Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity,


Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU,


published in the EU Official Journal L 158

 

3 May 2019

 

Directive (EU) 2019/692 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 amending Directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas published in the EU Official Journal 

 

26 March 2019

 

Clean Energy for All Europeans: Commission welcomes European Parliament's adoption of new electricity market design proposals

 

18 January 2019

 

Council endorses agreement to make Europe's electricity market more competitive and consumer-centred

 

21 December 2018

 

Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED II) published in the Official Journal of the European Union

 

18 December 2018

 

Commission welcomes political agreement on conclusion of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package



    Documentation

  

 

Zachmann, G., Hirth, L., Heussaff, C., Schlecht, I., Mühlenpfordt, J., Eicke, A. The design of the European electricity market, Publication for the committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament, Luxembourg

 

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas - Analysis of the final compromise text with a view to agreement, ST 6351 2019 INIT

 

ACER Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2017 

 

Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the internal market in electricity (recast) (COM(2016)0864 – C8-0495/2016 – 2016/0380(COD)), European Parliament, 27 February 2018, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

 

Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing Directive 2005/89/EC, (COM(2016)0862 – C8-0493/2016 – 2016/0377(COD)), 26 February 2018, European Parliament, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

 

Third Report on the State of the Energy Union and its annexes, European Commission, 24 November 2017

 

ACER/CEER, Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity and Gas Markets in 2016, Electricity Wholesale Markets Volume, October 2017

 

ACER/CEER Presentation of 24 October 2017 - The 6th Annual Report on Monitoring the Electricity and Natural Gas Markets, Main insights ACER/CEER, The 6th Annual Report on Monitoring the Electricity and Natural Gas Markets, Main insights 

 

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, 11.10.2017, Draft opinion, Ivo Belet, Internal market for electricity (recast) Proposal for a regulation (COM(2016)0861 – C8-0492/2016 – 2016/0379(COD))

 

ACER/CEER Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity Market in 2015, September 2016

 

ACER/CEER Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity and Gas Markets in 2015, Consumer Protection and Empowerment, November 2016

 

ACER/CEER Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity and Gas Markets in 2015, Retail Market, November 2016

 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the internal market for electricity (recast), 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 861 final 2016/0379 (COD) and Annex

 

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the internal market in electricity (recast), 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 864 final 2016/0380 (COD) and Annexes

 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Governance of the Energy Union, amending Directive 94/22/EC, Directive 98/70/EC, Directive 2009/31/EC, Regulation (EC) No 663/2009, Regulation (EC) No 715/2009, Directive 2009/73/EC, Council Directive 2009/119/EC, Directive 2010/31/EU, Directive 2012/27/EU, Directive 2013/30/EU and Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, 30.11.2016, COM(2016) 759 final 2016/0375 (COD) and Annexes

 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing Directive 2005/89/EC, 30.11.2016 COM(2016) 862 final, 2016/0377 (COD) and Annex

 

EFET commentary on the Clean Energy Package for All Europeans, 20 April 201720 April 2017

 

Completing a competitive, reliable and innovative Energy Union, Berlin, 10 March 2017, Speech by EU Energy & Climate Action Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete to the "Wirtschaftsrat" Berlin

 

A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy ", COM/2015/080

 

Regulation (EU) 2016/1952 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on European statistics on natural gas and electricity prices and repealing Directive 2008/92/EC

 

Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/132 of 28 January 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy statistics, as regards the implementation of updates for the annual, monthly and short-term monthly energy statistics
 

Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on energy statistics

 

ACER/CEER, Annual Report on the Results of Monitoring the Internal Electricity and Natural Gas Markets in 2014, November 2015

 

Commission Staff Working Document of 30.11.2016 Accompanying the document Report from the Commission Final Report of the Sector Inquiry on Capacity Mechanisms {COM(2016) 752 final} SWD(2016) 385 final

 

Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply and repealing Council Directive 2004/67/EC

 

European Parliament, The Impact of Brexit on the EU Energy System, Study for the ITRE Committee, November 2017

 

Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas, 6 December 2017, COM(2017)660 (amendments to ensure that the rules applicable to gas transmission pipelines connecting two or more EU Member States, are also applicable to pipelines to and from third countries within the European Union)

 

Opinion of 24.11.2017 of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on a proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the internal market in electricity (recast) (COM(2016)0864 – C8-0495/2016 – 2016/0380(COD))

 

Opinion of 07.12.2017 of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the internal market for electricity (recast) (COM(2016)0861 – C8-0492/2016 – 2016/0379(COD))

 

Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure

 

European Parliament, Briefing, EU Legislation in Progress, Common rules for the internal electricity market

 

European Parliament, Briefing, EU Legislation in Progress, Internal market for electricity

 

European Parliament, Briefing, EU Legislation in Progress, Risk-preparedness in the electricity sector

 

The EU Clean Energy Package, Technical Report, October 2019, Athir Nouicer, Leonardo Meeus, European University Institute, Badia Fiesolana, 

https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/64524/EU-CEP-2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

 

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