EU Commission releases guidance for state intervention in electricity

Brussels, Belgium - The EU internal energy market is essential both to ensure secure energy at affordable prices and to fight climate change. In some very specific cases public intervention might be necessary to attain public policy objectives - but needs be balanced, taking into account the costs and the distortions it can create in the market.

The European Commission has presented a Communication which gives guidance to Member States on how to make the most of public interventions, how to reform existing ones - especially renewable energy subsidy schemes - and how to effectively design new ones. This concerns back-up capacities for renewable energy, mostly fossil fuel energy which is produced when there is no sun or wind.

EU Energy Commissioner G

Source: IWR Online, 07 Nov 2013