Spaniards go to the polls on July 23th. That same week, the reform of the European electricity market faces a key moment, where the PSOE It is also played a lot. The reform, which reviews the way in which electricity is produced, distributed and sold in Europe, currently has two of the three influential institutions linked to Ferraz. And, the days that remain before the elections will be key to defining this measure.
The PSOE MEP, Nicholas Gonzalez Casares will defend before the Industry, Research and Energy Committee of the European Parliament (ITRE) Parliament’s proposal that he leads on July 19. The most complex issues, as it became known after the June 27 negotiation, are the Contracts for Differences, of its acronym in English Contract for Difference (CFD), and the distribution of its income.
The reform also has fronts that divide the member countries and the sector, such as the introduction of a cap on the benefits of inframarginal technologiessuch as nuclear or hydroelectric. On July 6 at 1:05 p.m., González Casares announced an agreement with the other Parliament speakers on his Twitter account: EPP (Maria da Graça Carvalho), RENEW (Morten Petersen) and Greens (Michael Bloss).
González highlighted in his announcement that he would include the prohibition of disconnection for the vulnerable, more rights for consumers (it is understood that access to PPAs, for example) and better mechanisms for activating emergency measures. However, the PSOE MEP did not refer to “thorny” issues such as CFDs or the price limit for inframarginals. The answer came minutes later from the popular speaker, Maria da Graça Carvalho: “We have an agreement. There will be no income cap.
In other words, it seems clear that the PSOE had to give in to the rest of the parties in its intention to include the limit on the income of the inframarginal and it will not appear in the debate on July 19. In addition, if the text is approved on that date, the green light will be given to delegate González Casares as representative of the European Parliament to start inter-institutional negotiationsthe informal method of adopting legislation commonly known as trialogues (the Commission, one Parliament, and the Council Presidency).
In the trialogues, the rapporteur on behalf of Parliament and the current presidency (in this case Spain) on behalf of the Council, negotiate on the legislative text to reach common ground with the European Commission acting as arbitrator. That is to say, this process will maintain a large representation of the PSOE if it wins the elections or if it occurs with the current government in office.
The PSOE leads the requests of the Council
At the same time that Parliament’s agreement was announced, the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU also acted in the reform of the European electricity market. The work led by Teresa Ribera began its path towards achieving a General Orientation on the Reform of the Electricity Market with which to negotiate.
The experts from the Permanent Representation of Spain sent the 27 member states three proposals on the latest issues on which there is still no agreement. one is cover a proportional volume of electricity that can be hedged under CFDs and ensure a concrete distribution of the income generated from these contracts among consumers. And finally find a balance between security of supply and not jeopardizing climate targets in the field of capacity mechanisms, before the clash with the Germans and French on coal and nuclear.
A debate that will take place among the Permanent Representatives in the COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives). But progress is expected this week for energy ministers who meet in Valladolid. It is expected that these issues without agreement will be discussed and, if possible, that a General Orientation agreement will be reached in an event led by Teresa Ribera.
The PSOE seeks in this way a double victory. The question that exists is who will be able to reach an initial agreement first, if Parliament, where a PSOE MEP has the last word, or the Council, where a Spanish socialist government presides.
