They express great doubts seven countries of the European North about her plans European Commission reform it electricity market. In his letter to the Commission Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg and Latvia they call for no major changes to the current system, which they say has long kept electricity prices low, promoted renewable energy, and provided enough electricity to meet demand and avoid shortages.

Seven countries are trying to influence the Commission’s plans for a complete reform of electricity market regulations. The reform under consideration is designed to protect consumers from a jump in fuel prices and prevent a repeat of the crisis experienced by the EU. last year with a surge in electricity prices when Russian gas was cut off. “We should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs because this has been the single market for electricity for the past decade,” said Danish energy minister Las Aagaard.

The seven countries certainly acknowledge that there is room for some improvement in the relevant rules, given that electricity prices have risen sharply in the past year. But they emphasize that any changes should have ensured the orderly functioning of the market and the attraction of investments in renewable energy sources. In the said letter, leaked to Reuters, they emphasize that “any reform that goes beyond some targeted interventions in the existing framework should be based on a deep assessment of the situation and should not be adopted hastily as a response to the crisis. “

At the opposite end, as usual, the countries of the European South, and Spain and France, are calling for a deeper and more decisive reform of the existing framework. Spain has proposed switching to long-term, fixed-price contracts for power plants to avoid energy price spikes. The seven countries also point out that various schemes designed to prevent price spikes, such as so-called “contracts for differences”, can help, but should only be entered into on a voluntary basis with a focus on renewable energy production.

At the same time, they support the idea already put forward by the Commission, which concerns making it easier for consumers to choose between contracts for the supply of electricity with fixed prices and contracts with floating prices. On the contrary, they vehemently disagree with another Commission proposal to extend the measure temporarily adopted by the EU, namely the recovery of excess profits from those companies that produce energy without consuming gas and, therefore, at lower prices. In particular, they argue that such a return of excess profits “would undermine investor confidence in the necessary investment” and cite EU data that show hundreds of billions of euros will be needed annually for renewable energy to help European countries in their efforts to become energy independent. From Russia.