Europe’s misshapen market – Why progress towards a single energy market is proving uneven

Progress to a single European energy market is proving very uneven. David Buchan explains the European Commission’s worry that rapid development of national renewable and back-up capacity markets could shut off countries’ energy sectors from each other, before efforts to improve cross-border electricity connection and trading can produce results. Brussels may soon have to concede the fight against climate change will do some damage to the architecture of a free energy market, but in the meantime persistent regulation of energy prices is a more immediate menace  to the single market than capacity mechanism plans are.

By: David Buchan