The FSR Law Area provided a comprehensive review of the most significant energy cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union in recent months. Kaisa Huhta (Part-Time Professor, FSR; Associate Professor, University of Eastern Finland) and Adrien de Hauteclocque (Part-Time Professor, FSR; Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE) will offer an expert analysis of the latest developments in case law.

Watch the recording:

Following the presentation, an interactive Q&A session was held, allowing attendees to engage directly with the experts and enhance their understanding of the topics discussed.

Below are the cases that were discussed:

Taxonomy
T-625/22 – Austria v Commission
T-579/22 – ClientEarth v Commission
T-583/22 – Fédération environnement durable and Others v Commission

ACER
T-95/23 – RWE Supply & Trading v ACER
T-96/23 – Uniper Global Commodities v ACER
T-342/23 – Aquind v ACER
T-600/23 – BNetzA v ACER
T-612/23 – Germany v ACER

State Aid
T-596/22 – PGI Spain and Others v Commission
C-59/23 – Austria v Commission (Centrale nucléaire Paks II)

The discussion also covered an overview of the most important pending cases.

The aim of the policy dialogue is to facilitate international carbon market cooperation between the EU and partner jurisdictions on key topics around net-zero regulation and integration of carbon markets. This dialogue will focus on the topic of carbon market integration, including direct linkages between compliance markets and indirect linkages via the Voluntary Carbon Market and the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanisms. The discussion will consider recent insights from ex-ante and ex-post assessments of the EU ETS and other ETSs worldwide. 

Participation is by invitation only. 

14:00-14:05 | Welcome

14:05-14:30 | Takeaways from 2025 Ex-Ante Workshop and Ex-Post Conference 

• Paul Ekins (UCL) 
• Simone Borghesi (EUI, University of Siena, EAERE) 

14:30-15:30 | A global carbon market: theoretical potential and practical barriers 

• Rohini Pande (Yale University) 
• Axel Michaelowa (Perspectives Climate Group) 
• Federica Dossi (Carbon Market Watch) 

15:30-15:40 | Coffee Break 

15:40-16:40 | Implications of (re)linking the EU and UK ETS 

• Charlie Lewis (UK DESNZ)
• Josh Burke (Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment) 
• Juan Fernando López (Climate Action Research and Tracking Service (CART), European Parliament)

This is a specialised training on water supply and sanitation regulation in the Western Balkans.

The World Bank’s Danube Water Program and WAREG, the European association of water regulators, are pleased to co-organise a regional regulation workshop on water supply and sanitation (WSS) in the Western Balkans. Taking place from 25 to 26 September 2025 at the Robert Schuman Centre in Florence, this two-day event will bring together regulators and sector experts to present and discuss the findings of a comprehensive review on WSS regulation in the Western Balkans, developed for the upcoming Danube State of the Sector Report 2025.

The workshop will address key regulatory challenges and explore practical solutions for enhancing regulatory practices and tools, with regard to tariff setting, and efficiency and service quality monitoring. It will also focus on the latest EU legislative developments and their impacts on regulatory authorities in the WSS sector. The programme includes in-depth training sessions delivered in collaboration with the Florence School of Regulation, offering valuable learning opportunities for regulatory professionals from across the region.

This Workshop will look at the opportunities for streamlining and simplifying the EU network regulatory framework, at the most effective approach to enable efficient anticipatory investments, and at the regualtory approaches to electricity interconnectors with third countries.

EU energy grids play an essential role in supporting market integration, promoting competition and enabling the increasing penetration of renewable energy sources (renewable-based electricity and renewable gases, including renewable hydrogen)[1]. Without investment in grid expansion, modernisation, digitalisation and flexibility, connection delays will increase, and renewables and electrification will stall. In May 2022, the Commission estimated that €584 billion in grid investments are needed before the end of this decade to meet the REPowerEU objectives.

Over the years, legislation has improved the framework for grid planning, development and operation. The 2013 Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation[2] established a new legal framework for cross-border energy infrastructure, replacing the 2006 bottom-up approach, by focussing on European planning – through the TYNDPs and the identification of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) – and tools – such as regional cooperation, permitting streamlining and the cross-border cost allocation (CBCA) – to enable their implementation. Following a full evaluation in 2020, the TEN-E Regulation was revised in 2022[3] to be aligned with the European Green Deal’s objectives. The main changes concerned removing fossil gas from the scope, including hydrogen infrastructure in its scope, as well as a strengthened focus on offshore grids to facilitate achieving the offshore ambitions set out in the EU offshore renewable strategy[4]. The TEN-E framework now also includes Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs) – cross-border projects with neighbouring non-EU countries – alongside the PCIs.

However, the evolving geopolitical context and risks and the increasingly ambitious energy and climate targets call for a reassessment of the regulatory framework applicable to energy grids. For this purpose, from May to August this year, the European Commission run a public consultation on the legal framework for European grids. The feedback received will feed into the Commission’s work on the European Grids Package, as part of the Competitiveness Compass[5] for the EU and the Clean Industrial Deal[6], which is foreseen for publication before the end of 2025. The key objective of the European Grids Package will be to help upgrade and expand grids to support rapid electrification and speed up permitting

Against this background, this Workshop will cover three aspects aimed at enhancing the legal framework and the role of European energy grids.

• Streamlining and simplifying the regulatory framework

Earlier in the year, the FSR published a Policy Brief on ‘Offshore wind energy in the North Seas: crafting collaboration and navigating governance’[7] and  a Policy Paper on ‘Trans-European energy networks (TEN-E) – ideas for simplification in view of accelerating project implementation’[8], providing suggestions for the review of the TEN-E Regulation, by focussing on the main priorities at the top of the Commission’s agenda, namely simplification as well as competitiveness and affordability. Those suggestions were elaborated keeping in mind the urgency to invest in grids as well as the good track-record of the TEN-E policy framework.

The European Parliament recently adopted an own-initiative report on ‘Electricity Grids: the backbone of the EU energy system’[9] that highlights the critical role of modernising EU’s grid infrastructure for the EU’s energy transition and security. The report also: (a) emphases the importance of grid resilience, of enhancing the regulatory framework and financing, and the role of anticipatory investments; (b) underlines the importance of local-level distribution grids and calls for a dedicated framework for their planning and financing; and (c) recommends making grid planning more efficient, taking into account the needs of sector integration at transmission and distribution levels.

At the same time, despite several PCIs having been implemented in the past decade, ACER’s monitoring report[10] highlights delays, both in project preparation (technical studies, financing) and permitting procedures. It is therefore important and urgent to look at the planning and regulatory frameworks from the perspective of speeding up implementation. Whilst synergies can be built in certain areas – e.g. for scenarios underpinning modelling -, in other areas the differences between the well-meshed electricity grid and the green field nature of both hydrogen and CO2 networks should be acknowledged.

• Promoting efficiency in anticipatory investments

Anticipatory investments are forward-looking infrastructure investments based on identified medium- and long-term network needs. The lengthy timeframes traditionally required to develop grid projects might lead to significant delays in strengthening the energy networks and connecting new resources, which are instrumental to the energy transition, to the grid[11]. Therefore, now, more than ever, anticipatory investments are key not to delay the energy transition.

In June 2025, the Commission published a Notice on anticipatory investments for developing forward-looking electricity networks[12], to support Member States, national regulatory authorities and distribution and transmission system operators with recommendations for action in the whole process leading to a final investment decision. More specifically, the Notice covers and provides recommendations on a number of areas: (i) improvements in network planning to allow forward looking investment; (ii) the scrutiny regime for network development plans; (iii) allowing anticipatory investments while keeping electricity network tariffs and connection charges low; (iv) the regulatory scrutiny of network investments and incentives; (v) the perceived risks and risk mitigation strategies.

Previously, ACER and CEER published a Position Paper on anticipatory investment[13], highlighting, inter alia, that anticipatory approaches are already used in network planning in several Member States, that the regulatory treatment does not differentiate anticipatory investments from other investments, that planning activities help evaluating anticipatory investments and that there are limited coordination roles on anticipatory investments. The Position Paper also offered a number of recommendations.

• Enabling energy interconnectors with third countries

The growing difficulty in building the renewable-based generation, necessary to support the decarbonisation process of the industrial sector, within the European Union, highlights the need to consider the opportunity to expand the geographical scope for the location of such generation to non-European regions. These regions are typically characterised by a better endowment of space, wind and solar resources and are therefore capable of providing energy production at competitive prices in the future.

In this context, some electricity interconnection projects have already been launched – both under the regulated and unregulated regimes – between countries in the Mediterranean basin, aiming at a deeper energy sector integration. This process can generate significant benefits both for the economic development of third countries and for the achievement of the EU’s climate objectives.

The European regulatory framework, extremely mature and detailed when it comes to interconnections between Member States, is still incomplete and not always clear with regard to integration with third countries, especially when these are implemented as merchant initiatives.

Furthermore, the rules that have stratified since the start of the liberalisation process do not fully take into account the needs of possible unregulated investments made by private operators who base their financing model on the cost competitiveness of generation outside the EU. These investments require a clear and stable framework for access to the European electricity network, so as to ensure the possibility of using long-term contracts (over a decade) with potential off-takers, and avoiding the risk of not being able to honour them due to physical or regulatory limitations in accessing the EU markets.

In July 2025, the Florence School of Regulation published a Research Report[14] on this topic, proposing different regulatory schemes which might serve as a blueprint for the regulatory framework for electricity interconnectors with third countries.

To discuss these three topics, the Workshop will be structured in three sessions:

• Session I, in the morning, will look at the opportunities for streamlining and siplifying the TEN-E regulatory framework;
• Session II, also in the morning, will focus on the most effective approach to enable efficient anticipatory investments,
• Session III, in the afternoon, will discuss the regualtory approaches to electricity interconnectors with third countries outlined in the FSR Research Report.

Sustainability assessment

The FSR assesses the sustainability and carbon footprint of all its Workshops of the Regulatory Policy Workshop Series. This Workshop is run ‘in presence’ to promote more effective interaction and discussion. Participants travelling to Florence by car or by air will be encouraged to offset any carbon emissions related to their travel. It is considered that, in this way, a suitable balance is achieved between the effectiveness of the policy dialogue and the net carbon footprint of the event.

Gender equality statement of commitment

At FSR, we actively work to achieve gender-balanced representation at all of our events. As a platform that connects diverse voices and perspectives in the sector, we firmly value inclusive and gender-balanced panel debates and training courses.

Kindly note that this event is by invitation only.

• [1] Commission Staff Working Document implementing the Repower EU Action Plan: Investment Needs, Hydrogen Accelerator and Achieving the Bio-Methane Targets accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, REPowerEU Plan, Brussels, 18.5.2022, SWD(2022)230 final.
• [2] Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009.
• [3] Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2009, (EU) 2019/942 and (EU) 2019/943 and Directives 2009/73/EC and (EU) 2019/944, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.
• [4] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, An EU Strategy to harness the potential of offshore renewable energy for a climate neutral future, Brussels, 19.11.2020, COM(2020) 741 final.
• [5] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/competitiveness-compass_en.
• [6] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/clean-industrial-deal_en.
• [7] Leonardo Meeus, Offshore wind energy in the North Seas: crafting collaboration and navigating governance, FSR Policy Brief, issue 2025/02, January 2025.
• [8] Catharina Sikow-Magny, Trans-European energy networks (TEN-E) – ideas for simplification in view of accelerating project implementation, FSR Policy Paper, RSC PP 2025/13, July 2025.
• [9] European Parliament resolution of 19 June 2025 on electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system (2025/2006(INI)), available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-10-2025-0136_EN.html.
• [10] Consolidated report on the progress of electricity and gas Projects of Common Interest, 2022; electricity infrastructure development to support a competitive and sustainable energy system, 2024
• [11] For example, according to Wind Europe data, wind farms might have to wait as long as 9 years to get access to the network.
• [12] C(2025) 3291 final. This notice defines anticipatory investment as “as investments into grid infrastructure assets that proactively address network development needs beyond the ones corresponding to reinforcements relating to currently existing grid connection requests by generation or demand projects” (page 3).
• [13] ACER-CEER, Position on anticipatory investments, March 2024, available at: https://www.ceer.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ACER-CEER-Position-on-Anticipatory-Invesments.pdf.
• [14] Alberto Pototschnig and Leonardo Meeus, The regulatory regime applicable to electricity interconnectors with third countries, Research Project Report, Florence School of Regulation, July 2025, available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/server/api/core/bitstreams/bd9cf077-70df-4d45-95ff-cf8cd56b8e63/content.

In this workshop, participants will explore the main concepts of the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and their significance in ensuring fair and transparent wholesale energy markets. The programme will cover key topics, including the purpose, scope, and actors of REMIT, the concept of inside information and the prohibition of insider trading and market manipulation, with examples of manipulative practices. The main obligations established by REMIT on market participants and persons professionally arranging and executing transactions (PPAETs) will also be discussed. Through engaging discussions and practical insights, attendees will deepen their knowledge of the basics of market integrity and transparency principles and regulatory compliance.

The workshop is organised in the context of the training course REMIT and its implementation, but it’s also open to external participants. For the course participants, attendance at the workshop is optional and is included in the course fee.

Programme

9.15 – 9.30 Introduction to the workshop
Alberto Pototschnig | FSR

9.30 – 10.30 Introduction to REMIT: purpose, scope and actors
Alberto Pototschnig | FSR

10.30 – 10.45 Coffee break

10.45 – 11.45 Insider trading
Sofia Nicolai | FSR

11.45 – 12.00 Q&A

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break

13.00 – 14.00 Market manipulation
Alberto Pototschnig | FSR

14.00 – 14.15 Coffee break

14.15 – 15.15 Introduction to REMIT obligations
Sofia Nicolai | FSR

Register by: 15 October 2025

Workshop fees:

• General fee: 300 EUR
• Associate donors fee (10%): 270 EUR
• Major donors fee (20%): 240 EUR
• Star donors fee (25%): 225 EUR

Learn more about the FSR-ACER residential course REMIT and its implementation in Florence, which covers the scope of the EU Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and the way in which it is implemented.

Achieving climate neutrality in the EU and globally requires ambitious and effective climate targets and the ability to implement widely accepted policies. The road to net-zero is hindered by fragmented policymaking, uneven public support, and limited tools to assess climate action’s broader social and political implications. Many existing assessments focus narrowly on effectiveness, overlooking critical dimensions like feasibility and public perception.

In this context, the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE aims to provide recommendations for designing socially and economically acceptable climate policy measures for 2030 and beyond. CAPABLE draws on economics, sociology, political science and psychology to capture climate policy’s multidimensional outcomes and implications.

This CAPABLE capacity-building workshop will share project findings for effective and acceptable climate policies at the European level. Organised online by the European University Institute (EUI) with contributions from leading experts in the CAPABLE consortium, it will focus on climate policies, their effectiveness and their acceptability. The lectures will be complemented with extensive question-and-answer sessions and some testimonials from practitioners.

Target audience:

Policymakers from EU institutions, national ministries, environmental agencies, industry executives, consultants, researchers and NGOs.

Learning outcomes:

• Assess the effectiveness of the current and future EU climate policies
• Grasp the potential and limits of different policy assessment methods
• Understand determinants and factors that influence the acceptability of climate policies, and propose policy design features to make policies acceptable
• Have an overview of the acceptability of newly implemented and potential climate policies, including the Fit for 55

Draft programme:

09:00 – 09:10 | Welcome & Introduction

09:10 – 10:40 | Module 1: EU Climate Policies and Their Effectiveness

• Introduction to EU Climate Policies (Simone Borghesi, EUI)
• Policy Assessment: What Works? (Kai Lessmann and Jan Minx, PIK and Marie Raude, EUI)

10:40 – 10:55 | Coffee Break

10:55 – 12:20 | Module 2: Acceptability of Climate Policies

• Determinants of Public Acceptance of Climate Policies: A Multi-disciplinary Overview (Mary Sanford, CMCC/EIEE)
• Social Acceptability and Feasibility of Fit-For-55 Policies (Keith Smith, ETH)

12:20 – 12:45 | Testimonial on science for European climate policies

• Vicky Pollard, DG Climate Action, European Commission

12:45 – 12:50 | Conclusions

A second capacity-building workshop is scheduled on Thursday 27 November afternoon with a focus on climate policies at the local level. Click here to learn more about it.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101056891.

This webinar presented the ongoing research of the U2Demo project on mapping and comparing the legal and regulatory framework for the development of open-source peer-to-peer energy sharing platforms

Watch the recording:

At EU level, since the Clean Energy Package, regulation has enabled active consumers to jointly self-consume and engage in P2P (peer-to-peer) energy trading within or beyond Energy Communities (ECs). The reforms introduced by the new Electricity Market Design have inserted specific rules for energy sharing, adding a further layer of rules to the existing regulatory landscape for energy sharing activities.

At Member State level, divergences in the transposition of these EU legislations for enabling P2P sharing, increase complexity, particularly in the allocation of duties and responsibilities among various market actors (e.g. members, sharing organisers, traditional suppliers, DSOs).

The webinar aims to present the final report led by the Florence School of Regulation and conducted within the U2Demo project. FSR leads the task for mapping and comparing the legal and regulatory framework that enables the development of consumer-centric models for energy sharing and P2P trading within energy communities, starting from the EU legislation and digging into its transposition in the national jurisdiction of four Member States, namely, Italy, Portugal, Belgium (Flanders), and the Netherlands.

Programme

Panel 1  (14:00 – 14:40)

Report presentation: mapping and comparing the legal and regulatory framework for energy sharing and P2P trading

Nicolò Rossetto (FSR) – moderator

Presenters:

Hugo Morais (INESC-ID)

Lucila de Almeida (FSR)

Max Munchmeyer (FSR)

Alessandra Porcari (FSR)

Eva Winters (TNO)

Panel 2 (14:40 – 15:30)

Roundtable for Discussion

Tadhg O’Briain – DG ENER

Frederic-Michael Foeteler – CEER

Josh Roberts – REscoop

Laurens Rutten – BEUC

Anna Momotova – Eurelectric

Q&A discussion (15:30 – 16:00)

Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Innovation Actions under grant agreement no. 101160684. Views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. 

Join this online debate to explore how EU Member States manage energy consumer data and how implementing Regulation 2023/1162 supports cross-border interoperability for innovative, data-driven energy services.

Watch the recording:

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1162— the first of the implementing acts foreseen by Article 24 of the Electricity Directive 2019/944— requires Member States to facilitate the interoperability of energy services within the Union. It introduces a Reference Model for access to metering and consumption data and obliges Member States to report their national practices to the European Commission by 5 July 2025.

The information collected will be published in a repository jointly maintained by ENTSO-E and the EU DSO Entity. This approach aims to foster interoperability across borders without mandating a single data management model.

As the reporting deadline approaches, the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) is organising an online debate to reflect on the current landscape of consumer data management in Europe and the EU’s approach to interoperability. A recent FSR policy brief will be presented during the event, followed by a discussion with key stakeholders.

This event is organised in the context of the Horizon Europe project EDDIE and has been co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Innovation Actions under grant agreement No. 101069510, EDDIE – European Distributed Data Infrastructure for Energy.

Programme

14:00 – 14:05     Introduction

Nicolò Rossetto, FSR

14:05 – 14:15     Presentation of the FSR Policy Brief

Ellen Beckstedde, FSR

14:15 – 14:45     Panel debate

Konstantinos Stamatis | DG ENER, EC

Anna Maggioni | ARERA

Michèle Dion-Demael | ENTSO-E

Anna Gorbatcheva | 1KOMMA5°

14:45 – 15:00     Q&A with the audience and wrap-up

On the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will take place in Rome, Italy on 10-11 July, 2025, the Florence School of Regulation and DiXi Group will hold a half-day conference on Ukraine’s integration into the EU and in its role in the implementation of the EU Clean Industrial Deal.

The objective of the conference is to explore the sectors, technologies and particular steps which can help both Ukraine and the European Union to benefit from future Ukraine’s membership and how the reconstruction of Ukraine will help the EU in increasing its competitiveness and simultaneously preparing Ukraine to the accession and full integration in the EU single market.Agenda

Panel 1

Gas sector integration for better prices to consumers and strengthened energy security

Gas will continue to play a crucial role in the European Union’s journey towards decarbonization, serving as one of the three key pillars of the Action Plan for Affordable Energy under the Clean Industrial Deal. In this context, Ukraine’s gas resources and infrastructure offer strategic advantages that can significantly enhance the EU’s energy security and market stability.

Panel 2

Discovering Ukraine’s renewable energy and manufacturing potential for Europe’s energy transition

With the adoption of Directive 2018/2001 on the promotion of renewable energy, the European Union increased its overall renewable energy target from 32% to 42.5% of gross final energy consumption. Ukraine’s strategic position as a producer of renewable energy, particularly in biomass and biomethane, coupled with its potential in SAF development, can significantly contribute to the EU’s renewable energy targets and energy independence. Strengthening EU-Ukraine cooperation in renewable energy not only supports the EU’s decarbonization agenda but also enhances regional energy security and economic stability.

Panel 3

Nuclear energy for a strengthened Europe

As nuclear power continues to be a key component of the EU’s electricity generation mix, Ukraine is well-positioned to make a substantial contribution in this area. Ukraine’s advanced nuclear infrastructure, crisis management expertise, and strategic approach to nuclear fuel diversification uniquely position it as a valuable partner for the EU’s nuclear energy sector and can significantly contribute to enhancing the EU’s energy security.

The full programme will be available soon.

Watch the recording:

The EU’s decarbonisation commitments have huge consequences for the EU’s electricity system. The Clean Industrial Deal highlights this, with a further push to accelerating wind and PV, and rapidly increasing electrification in industry, buildings and transport.

The Commission has announced a number of initiatives to achieve this acceleration, including a new Industrial Electrification Fund based on the Hydrogen Bank, the new Clean Industrial Deal State aid Guidelines, a revision of the TEN-E framework, the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, a Recommendation on network charges, and the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act. The revision of the ETS mechanism and the Renewable Energy Directive will then follow.

Clearly, without a considerable further push to decarbonising the EU’s electricity supply and increasing the share of electricity in the EU’s overall energy mix, the EU will not succeed in its climate commitments.  This also has competitiveness and security issues, and it may be said that Europe is ‘slipping behind’ here: in the EU roughly 22% of the final energy services are supplied by electricity of which 36% goes to industry; in China this goes up to 28% (and growing fast) and 59% to industry.

But without a fit-for-purpose gid, in terms of investment and operation, this objective will surely fail. The Commission has committed to tabling a new Grids Package, which is expected already by the end of 2025. Following a presentation of a recent paper on the Challenge of grids in the Clean Industrial Deal and Affordable Energy Plan by Professor Christopher Jones, the Panel will discuss what needs to be in the Grids Package and what more needs to be done.

Whilst it is too early to draw conclusions or speculate regarding the cause of the Spanish blackout, the session will shed light on the next steps of the procedure that is currently ongoing, as set out under EU law. The session will also introduce the technicalities of the blackout, and possible prevention measures, as explained in a blog by Carlos Batlle on the FSR website.

Programme

10.00-10.20: Introductory Presentations

Christopher Jones | Part-time Professor at the Florence School of Regulation

Carlos Batlle | Part-time Professor at the Florence School of Regulation, Professor at the Institute for Research in Technology of Comillas Pontifical University.

10.20-11.00: Panel Discussion

Moderator: Christopher Jones

Anca-Iulia Cimpeanu | Deputy-Head of Unit, Infrastructure and Regional Cooperation, DG ENER, European Commission

Noemi Szabo | Policy Manager, ENTSO-E

Catharina Sikow-Magny | Part-time Professor at the Florence School of Regulation

Leonardo Meeus | Professor and Director of the Florence School of Regulation and the Loyola de Palacio Chair in the Robert Schuman Centre

Carlos Batlle | Part-time Professor at the Florence School of Regulation, Professor at the Institute for Research in Technology of Comillas Pontifical University.

Join this debate exploring how to unlock flexibility and complete market integration to reduce energy costs and support EU competitiveness.

This debate will focus on how to enhance system flexibility and to complete market integration to minimise the cost of accomodating increasing shares of renewables into the electricity system, thus reducing overall energy system costs to the benefit of EU energy consumers and to improve EU competitiveness. More specifically, the Debate will discuss how to remove the current limitations – e.g. incomplete market integration and barriers to the participation of distributed resources in the markets – to the full potential of renewable-based generation to reduce electricity costs.

Electricity costs for EU consumers are driven by a number of factors, including primary energy costs, network costs and system costs. These costs are greatly affected by the increasing penetration of renewable generation, which is key to the achievement of the ambitious EU climate policy goals. More (intermittent) renewables calls for a more flexible electricity system. How to minimise the costs of flexibility is one of the main challenges of the energy transition, requiring progress in several areas:

• The electricity market is still not fully integrated across the EU. Cross-border capacity made available to the market is still generally well below the 70% target envisaged in legislation. Action plans will expire this year. What is next?
• There are also delays in other aspects of the implementation of the EU energy market rules. ACER reports that 27% of the terms and conditions or methodologies for the implementation of the network codes are delayed. How can timely implementation be ensured?
• The participation of Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in balancing platforms (e.g. PICASSO) is still limited. Last year ACER amended the EU electricity balancing rules to improve the efficiency of the PICASSO platform. Will this be sufficient?
• Flexibility could also be achieved by making the networks smarter. How? Shall this be promoted by new regulatory approaches?
• There are still barriers to the market participation of decentralised resources, such as demand response and storage. How can these barriers be overcome?
• Beyond regulatory barriers, there seems still to be behavioural aspects, especially in the case of residential customers, and implementation uncertainties regarding the role of aggregators, which might prevent demand response fully to deliver on its potential. Which are these aspects and how to address them?
• How to ensure that flexibility needs are met by leveraging the power of markets, instead of relying on support schemes as the default?

Programme 

Host: Ilaria Conti

Introduction to the Debate and Opening Presentations

14.00 – 14.05      ​Introduction to the Debate

​​Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation

14.05 – 14.15​       The regulatory perspective: tackling the persistent barriers to demand response and the importance of assessing flexibility needs in a robust manner

Christos Kolokathis | Team Leader – Flexibility and Resilience, Energy System Needs, ACER

Panel Discussion: Introductory Remarks, Polls and Comments

Moderator:  ​Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation

14.15 – 14.45​       Introductory remarks from the panellists

Nicola Rega | Executive Director Climate Change & Energy, CEFIC

Gheorghe Visan | Vice-Chair, Core Steering Committee, ENTSO-E

Guro Grøtterud | Markets & Networks Committee Chair, SmartEN

Laurens Rutten | Senior Energy Policy Officer, BEUC

Dylan McConnell | Senior Research Associate, UNSW

14.45 – 14.50​       Polls

14.50 – 15.20​       Comments on the polls outcome and Q&A from the audience
Panellists

15.20 – 15.30​       Concluding remarks
Ilaria Conti | Florence School of Regulation
Alberto Pototschnig | Florence School of Regulation

Programme

14:00-14:05 Introduction to the debate

14:05-14:30 Insights from the Handbook on Electricity Regulation

14:30-14:45 Panel debate

14:45-15:00 Q&A

Find out more about the soon-to-be-published Handbook on Electricity Regulation, edited by Jean-Michel Glachant, Florence School of Regulation, Paul L. Joskow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michael G. Pollitt, University of Cambridge.