Brussels is advising EU member states not to allow the UK deeper access to the bloc’s electricity markets, despite industry warnings of higher energy bills for consumers and a slower transition to net zero. In a document setting out policy positions on the upcoming “reset” of EU-UK relations, the European Commission said that its “no cherry-picking” principle towards the UK should apply equally to electricity trading.
UK and EU industry have coalesced around a potential solution that respects both sides’ political red lines, but it requires political sign off to progress discussions,” he said. In the current electricity trading arrangement, space on the interconnector is auctioned separately to the energy itself — a much less efficient method than auctioning them together.