EU leaders want customers at center of energy future

The meeting of the ministers included discussion on how best to implement this empowerment for consumers, as well as keeping them involved. The European Union explained, "Building a consumer-orientated Energy Union can be achieved by creating a flexible European market for energy that ensures transparent pricing and maximizes competition."

To meet this goal, the European Commission (EC) adopted two initiatives on a new market design and retail market that would help energy customers have more say in the energy market of the EU.

"Ministers identified certain weaknesses in the EU's energy system, notably the lack of energy interconnections -- which could have an upward effect on energy pricing, the need for more competition in energy retail markets, the need to help consumers in vulnerable situations, and to ensure that consumers are fully informed on the possibility to control their energy consumption using smart technology," the European Union explained in a statement.

Another topic of conversation at the meeting was creating investments in energy in the Union -- and to achieve this goal, the ministers called for a European legal framework, a properly functioning carbon market, major investments in energy infrastructure, energy efficiency and low-carbon energy production, and for a level playing field between all players in the market.

The meeting also produced conversation on the European Energy Security Strategy, a year after it was first adopted, and the ministers discussed how security of energy supply can be increased -- by reducing EU's energy dependency and diversifying energy suppliers and energy sources.

In December, the European Commission will present the first State of the Energy Union at the European Council.

For more:
- read the results

 

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