France does not want to wait for the EU and may reform its electricity market itself to protect industry

Reform of the European electricity market came to the fore last year, when extreme price volatility in the natural gas market also had a major impact on wholesale electricity prices. Both the European Union and individual member states are looking for ways to maintain the market’s efficient functioning while protecting consumers from extreme price fluctuations. Negotiations at EU level can, however, be protracted. France’s energy minister has therefore said that if efforts at EU level fail, France will reform its market itself.

European countries began discussing a possible reform of the internal electricity market more intensively last year in the wake of the energy crisis and the extreme rise in natural gas prices. Given the strong interconnection between individual markets, electricity prices began to soar even in markets where gas-fired generation accounts for only a small fraction of the overall mix, as is the case in France and Czechia, for example.