Internal Electricity Market & Climate Policy: reconciling the two legislative packages

Speaker: Mr. Gwyn Dolben, Chairman of EURELECTRIC Energy Policy WG, Head of European Affairs, Association of Electricity Producers (UK)

The electricity sector is at the moment in the spotlight again. Two major legislative packages intended to combat climate change and drive forward the development of the Internal Electricity Market are currently on the table. These two objectives are both crucially important and the proposed solutions must be made to work in synergy if Europe is to achieve substantial reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases at a reasonable cost for the economy as a whole. 

The tie-ups and tensions between the objectives set and the measures proposed in the two legislative packages were at the heart of this evening’s debate. EURELECTRIC reiterated the commitment of the European electricity industry to move to a low-carbon portfolio of generation by mid-century and contributed proactively to the establishment of a genuine competitive Europe-wide electricity market.