Greek PM urges EU action on energy market distortions
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for urgent EU-wide intervention to address surging electricity prices and growing distortions in the EU energy market, warning that price discrepancies between member states threaten regional competitiveness and public support for the EU Green Deal.
In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday, Mitsotakis highlighted that wholesale electricity prices in Greece more than doubled between April and August, from €60/MWh to €130/MWh, despite significant progress in the country’s energy transition. Greece saw a 25% increase in wind and solar power generation this summer while cutting lignite use by 27%, “yet prices rose to levels last seen in early 2023, when we were still coping with the aftermath of the most acute energy crisis in our history,” he said.
Mitsotakis described the sharp rise as largely a “regional crisis” also affecting other EU member states like Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Croatia. He attributed the increase to a combination of factors, including unusually warm weather, energy generation outages, and water shortages affecting hydroelectric capacity. Additionally, he emphasized, Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated the situation, with EU countries absorbing the electricity deficit caused by Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid.
“At the same time, this shock has not impacted all member states equally,” Mitsotakis said, pointing out growing price disparities between neighboring countries. He highlighted that in some instances, electricity prices in Hungary reached €940/MWh, while in neighboring Austria, they were as low as €61/MWh – “a 15-time difference for the same product at the same time across an internal EU border.” He emphasized that the situation “undermines the spirit and purpose of the internal market.”
“What is even more worrisome, the system is so complex and opaque that is virtually impossible to understand precisely what is driving prices at any given point and time. We have created an incomprehensible black box-even to experts. And we cannot explain convincingly to our citizens why the price they pay is rising so suddenly. This is politically unacceptable,” Mitsotakis said.
In the same letter, the conservative leader proposed several measures to address the crisis. He called for stronger regional governance to better coordinate energy decisions across countries, increased EU regulatory oversight with an EU-wide electricity regulator, and special provisions to mitigate the impact of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. He also urged a renewed push for more cross-border electricity interconnectors to reduce price disparities and complete the internal market.
“The energy transition is a journey. It will require constant vigilance and adjustment,” he concluded. “It is imperative that we take up this challenge. The success of the EU Green Deal depends upon it.”
