**Reform of the European electricity market design - evolution or revolution?
**
Austria's leading energy supplier VERBUND invites you to another explosive energy breakfast from the MorgenGespräche event series on Friday, 05 May, from 08:30 - 09:30.
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*Reform of the European electricity market design - evolution or revolution?
*
The extreme volatility of wholesale gas and electricity prices during the last three years, mainly due to the economic effects of the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, has also been reflected in retail prices. The energy price increases have a massive impact on the competitiveness of internationally active energy-intensive companies and on the purchasing power of citizens, also because energy costs are a major driver of the currently very high inflation. In order to prevent further deindustrialization in Europe and widespread loss of prosperity among the population, the European Commission, under massive pressure from the member states, has been forced to introduce appropriate sector-specific countermeasures. Among the many measures to alleviate the energy crisis, the reform of the European electricity market design, with the aim of enabling more renewable energies, more consumer protection and more competitiveness, is given central importance. In mid-March, the European Commission presented its draft for a new electricity market design, which is not without controversy because it continues to include the merit order system with its pay as cleared principle. On the one hand, the Commission's proposal relies on longer-term market instruments such as power purchase agreements and two-sided contracts for difference; on the other hand, it proposes flexibility instruments, virtual price zones, supplier hedging and price caps in times of crisis.
What the Commission's proposal for reforming the electricity market design means, what implications it has for the various stakeholders, and whether it goes far enough is what we want to discuss in the round.