Political agreement in the European Union to reform the electricity market. After more than 10 hours of negotiation, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission have reached a provisional agreement which seeks to promote the deployment of renewable energies and promote stable and affordable prices for consumers, less dependent on fossil fuels.

This is a market adjustment conceived in the heat of the energy price crisis of 2021 and 2022, which seeks bring the EU closer to its climate goals and away from hydrocarbons From Russia.

The measures include giving Member States the possibility to exclusively support the purchase of new generation of renewable energy when conditions allow it through the energy purchase agreements and the Criteria for declaring a crisis related to high prices.

Community institutions have also addressed the possibility of reduce electricity prices for vulnerable customers and disadvantaged, implementing protection against disconnections and incorporating provisions aimed at avoid “undue” distortions in the market.

The text, agreed between the parties this Thursday in Strasbourg, must now be validated by the Council and the plenary session of the European Parliament. Promoting this reform has been one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU, which is now coming to an end.

Ribera celebrates the agreement

“This agreement is great news, since it will help us to further reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas and promote fossil fuel-free energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” celebrated the third vice president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition and Challenge. Demographic, Teresa Ribera.

Likewise, Ribera has indicated that, thanks to this agreement, markets can be stabilized in the long termaccelerate the deployment of renewable and fossil fuel-free energy sources, offer more affordable electricity to EU citizens and improve industrial competitiveness.

The socialist MEP Nicolás González Casares, for his part, has held a agreement reached “after 10 hours” of negotiationshighlighting that now “Europe has a design of socially fair electricity market that will better protect citizens, especially the most vulnerable, with measures that will ensure affordable prices for citizens and businesses, and accelerate the energy transition.”

“In addition, Parliament has achieved a market design that gives a step forward in the democratization of energy. “Parliament has known how to work at lightning speed to achieve an agreement that provides answers to many of the failures exposed by the energy crisis and to the expectations of citizens,” she said.

The proposal is part of a broader reform of the design of the European Union’s electricity market, which also includes a regulation focused on improving protection against market manipulation through better supervision and transparency, which the Twenty-seven agreed in June.