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The European Commission wants new powers to order electricity demand cuts and block national measures that threaten energy supplies elsewhere in Europe during a major crisis, according to draft plans seen by Euronews.
The proposals would give Brussels a more hands-on role in managing energy emergencies, allowing the Commission to declare a regional or EU-wide electricity alarm and require countries to reduce consumption by a specified amount.
The Commission’s energy security package was originally due earlier this year and designed largely around lessons from the 2022-23 energy crisis, when Europe lost much of its Russian gas supply following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But fresh supply and price shocks emerging from the US and Israeli war against Iran have upended the plans, forcing Brussels to rethink its plans. The draft now seeks to prepare Europe for threats ranging from supply shortages and extreme weather to cyberattacks and physical attacks on critical infrastructure, such as the Nord Stream sabotage and attacks on Germany’s power grid.
Under the proposed rules, the Commission could declare a regional or EU-wide electricity alarm if it identifies a substantial risk of a power crisis.
After consulting the Electricity Coordination Group — a high-level group gathering EU countries, industry and EU officials — Brussels could introduce measures including mandatory national demand adjustments, with the Commission deciding what cuts are needed.
“Such measures may include mandatory national demand adjustments (…) The Commission shall specify in the alarm declaration the level of demand adjustments required,” the draft says.
Early warning system in the making
The Commission also wants a clearer escalation system for energy crises.
Countries would first issue an early warning or national alarm before declaring an emergency once market-based measures – including subsidies, taxation or cap-and-trade systems – have been exhausted and electricity supply can no longer meet demand.
Brussels also wants governments to coordinate their interventions and avoid national measures that could restrict cross-border electricity or gas flows, potentially worsening shortages in neighbouring countries.
The Commission argues that unilateral action during a shortage can damage the internal market and create negative spillovers elsewhere. That issue has become increasingly pressing as the bloc is currently grappling with potential fuel shortages – prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to ask Brussels to reassess the EU’s joint gas-purchasing mechanism created following the war in Ukraine and the sudden decoupling from Russian gas.
‘Strictly limited’ gas-fired plants
The draft treats gas and electricity shortages as two sides of the same problem of ensuring adequate gas supplies. It asks EU countries to identify gas-fired power plants that are “strictly limited to the critical gas volumes needed to maintain electricity grid stability”.
With a growing push to electrify the bloc’s economy, the EU’s power system is becoming more dependent on electricity – and with renewable generation dependent on weather conditions, it raises concerns of intermittent power failures.
The draft calls for more detailed short-term and seasonal assessments of power adequacy, including the risks posed by extreme weather, power-plant outages, transmission failures, demand peaks and fluctuations in renewable generation.
Stockpiling critical infrastructure parts
Brussels is also looking beyond energy supplies to stockpile critical spare parts of infrastructure. With growing drone threats near energy infrastructure, the Commission wants to treat the ability to repair the system quickly as part of energy security.
The proposal would create an EU-wide list of essential spare parts needed to keep electricity and gas networks running and quickly fix them after a disruption.
Energy operators would report what equipment they have, while EU energy authorities would set minimum stock levels based on factors such as supply risks, how long it takes to replace equipment and how important each component is for cross-border energy flows.
The Commission could also recommend that countries build shared regional reserves of key equipment.