What is the Energy Regulation Academy?
Launched in September 2026, the Energy Regulation Academy supports regulators, ministries and other public authorities across all 27 EU Member States in turning electricity sector reforms into practice.
Europe’s electricity sector is changing rapidly. Reforms are reshaping electricity markets, renewable energy investment, grid planning, system flexibility, digitalisation and consumer protection. But agreeing new rules is only part of the process. Their impact also depends on the capacity of national authorities to interpret them, develop effective regulatory instruments and adapt national institutions and practices.
This implementation challenge is at the centre of the Energy Regulation Academy (EnRA).
The EnRA is a three-year capacity-building initiative funded by the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument and implemented by the European University Institute’s Florence School of Regulation, in cooperation with the European Commission’s Reform and Investment Task Force (SG REFORM).
It supports professionals from regulatory authorities, ministries and other public bodies across all 27 EU Member States through specialised training, peer exchange and tailored support, connecting EU policy with the practical challenges of implementing electricity sector reforms at national level.
From reforms to implementation
While Member States face many of the same challenges, electricity reforms are implemented in different national and institutional contexts. The EnRA brings these experiences together through specialised training courses, regional workshops and tailored consultations, combining academic and policy expertise with the practical knowledge of professionals responsible for implementing reforms.
For Leonardo Meeus, Director of the Florence School of Regulation, bringing together the right expertise is only part of the task:
Half of the job is to get the right people in the room. The other half is just to design interactions among them to create impact.
The ambition also extends beyond individual training activities. The EnRA aims to build a European community of practice for continuous peer learning and regulatory cooperation across Member States.
As Declan Costello, Director-General of the European Commission’s Reform and Investment Task Force (SG REFORM), explained, the longer-term value lies in the connections created between professionals across Europe:
We see the Energy Regulation Academy as an institutional body that can provide a hands-on space for exchanging knowledge, exchanging experiences, exchanging best practices on ongoing reforms and how we can work together to ensure that they are implemented better.
The EnRA launches in Florence and begins its three-year programme
The EnRA was officially launched on 15 September 2026 at the European University Institute in Florence, bringing together representatives from all 27 EU Member States, the European Commission, the EUI and the wider energy community.
Opening the launch, EUI President Patrizia Nanz placed the Academy within the EUI’s broader commitment to connecting research and policymaking, and to involving those responsible for implementation in the creation and exchange of knowledge:
The Energy Regulation Academy embodies EUI's commitment to bringing together academic excellence and policy engagement. By identifying and sharing best practices, learning from one another, co-creating knowledge with the ones implementing it.
The Academy’s work had already begun with its first training course, Contracts for Difference (CfD) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), held from 7 to 28 September 2026. The course combined online learning with a three-day residential component in Florence, bringing together representatives of regulatory authorities, ministries and public institutions to examine the design of CfDs and PPAs and their role in balancing investment certainty, market integration and affordability.
The course marked the first step in a programme that will evolve over the next three years in response to EU policy priorities, Member State needs and emerging electricity-sector challenges.
Learn more about the Energy Regulation Academy and explore its activities, resources and open-access training videos.
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