Five countries pushed back against the European Commission's plans over what they see as an increasingly centralised vision for planning Europe’s future electricity, according to a document seen by Euronews.
Bulgaria, Finland, France, Poland and Sweden argue that the European Union’s green transition risks becoming slower, more expensive and less secure if Brussels attempts to command grid development from the centre. Instead, they are proposing a Europe of coordinated regions rather than a fully centralised energy union.
"An exclusive focus on a top-down approach would hinder the (Grids) Package's objective. We alternatively suggest that the regional planning and evaluation approach be strengthened and extended upon,' reads the document.
The Commission launched a legislative proposal to overhaul the grids in December, calling for stronger coordination in revising the EU’s law governing trans-European energy infrastructure, including the creation of a “central scenario” to guide long-term investment across EU countries.
The five-country coalition argues that such an approach misunderstands how energy systems actually function on the ground. They say that the energy infrastructure is too complex, too regionally specific and too politically sensitive to be designed through a single Brussels-led model.
