BRUSSELS: The EU is preparing to take emergency action to reform the electricity market and get a grip on energy prices that have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine, senior officials said Monday.
Energy ministers from EU member states will hold urgent talks in Brussels on Sept. 9.
High gas prices have been followed by disruptions in the nuclear and hydroelectric sectors amid a heatwave blamed on climate change —threatening businesses and households with massive bills.
“The skyrocketing electricity prices are now exposing the limitations of our current electricity market design,” EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told a forum in Bled, Slovenia.
“It was developed for different circumstances. That’s why we are now working on an emergency intervention and a structural reform of the electricity market.”
Separately, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz also called for action.
Speaking at a press conference after talks with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Scholz said that “we are in complete agreement that rapid action has to be taken” to reform the market.
EU officials are also considering measures to split electricity price setting from the gas price and take into account other energy sources.
Some member states have launched price reduction measures of their own, but Brussels believes EU capitals working together will be more effective.
