The European Union has taken measures to create a competitive internal natural gas and electricity market. The opening up of the national gas and electricity markets to competition gives customers the freedom to choose their energy supplier. From the produces' and traders' perspective, a non-discriminative access to transport infrastructure is crucial.
Liberalisation also increases security of supply, for two reasons. Firstly, it promotes investments in facilities which help to avoid interruptions in supply. Secondly, it encourages the diversification of both transport routes and energy sources.
A competitive energy market also contributes to sustainable development, above all by facilitating market access for suppliers of electricity from renewable sources.
Energy Markets in Europe
The progression from a monopolistic to a liberalised energy market can be described in three phases. Click here for a general description of the stages of market liberalisation as well as EGL's assessment of the current status of deregulation in the various European markets.
