The European Council on Friday adopted a paper on ‘a strategic agenda in times of change’. On energy, governments called on the EU to focus in the next five years on policies delivering three priorities: “affordable energy”, “secure energy” and “green energy”.

“The European electricity sector fully shares the European Council’s priorities, which reflect the classic energy policy values of competitiveness, sustainability, and security of supply. The paper is a welcome signal that European governments remain committed to this agenda. However, actions speak louder than words. We encourage European leaders to take these priorities into account both in the short term as well as when discussing the energy and climate policy framework for 2030,” commented EURELECTRIC Secretary General Hans ten Berge.

Indeed, European policymakers can take a number of immediate steps to deliver on their promise:

Affordable energy:

–          A recent EURELECTRIC analysis of electricity prices shows that increases in retail bills are mainly driven by taxes and levies. Governments should reduce this burden on European households and take care to ensure that energy bills are not used as vehicles for financing unrelated policies.

–          Complete the internal energy market and integrate renewable energy into the market, effectively allowing all types of generation to compete under the same rules. This will ensure that the necessary growth of renewable energy can be achieved at the lowest possible cost to European citizens.

Secure energy:

–          An EU-wide internal energy market, including sufficient interconnections, will increase competition, reduce dependence on single suppliers, and allow Europe to make better use of its indigenous energy sources. Policymakers should refocus their attention on this area. Whilst building more interconnectors should be a priority, the need for new transmission lines should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, with an interconnection target providing overall guidance rather than being an end in itself.

–          Revise the current market design as needed with a view to encouraging investment and ensuring that sufficient capacity remains on-line.

–          Develop Europe’s distribution grid and complete the roll-out of smart meters as the foundation of the future smart grids environment.

Green energy:

–          Strengthen the EU Emissions Trading Scheme by adopting the proposal to create a market stability reserve starting in 2017 and incorporating the current backload.

–          Agree on a 2030 domestic greenhouse gas reduction target of at least 40% at the European Council in October.