Electricity market integration in Europe

Abstract

Europe is preparing for a third wave of legislation to further reform electricity markets. The energy sector inquiry conducted in preparation of this third energy package concluded that there is lack of market integration. Even though this is true, it is important to put this in perspective. For the moment, electricity markets in Europe are indeed not the most harmonized or fine-tuned of the world. However, in some regions promising initiatives have already been launched and even when only integrated regionally, these markets will be the largest in the world, which indicates how ambitious the target of a single electricity market for Europe really is