To reach net zero as required by the EU Climate Law of 2021, the scale of investment in Europe (and across the globe) must be drastically ramped up in the last half of this decade. Interim targets have already been missed. The challenges to raise the predicted investments of over 650 billion euros – a large percentage of which must be mobilised by the private sector – requires an urgent rethink of the role of commercial long-term contracts in securing rapid and deep decarbonisation in the energy transition. This article contends that a new approach to long-term contracts in European competition policy must be urgently developed, based on new facts, new realities and a revised reasoning.