"A look back at one year since Draghi's announcement: What is the current status of European energy policy?"
The September 2024 report by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, aimed at steering European Union competitiveness policy, identified high energy prices as a major problem. In response, Draghi proposed measures to address this issue, but the response has been more incremental than disruptive.
Draghi's proposals included leveraging Europe's market power in international gas markets via EU joint purchasing, pushing European electricity market integration, and short-term steps to more rapidly decouple electricity prices from volatile gas prices. An increase in the funding for electricity infrastructure from €6 billion to €30 billion in the proposed EU 2028-2034 budget signals the Commission's intention to invest heavily in this area.
One of the key initiatives is the proposed European Grid Package, aimed at upgrading and expanding grids to support rapid electrification and speed up permitting. The Commission launched an Energy Union Task Force in June 2025, but no fundamental change in this area has been proposed so far.
The Infrastructure and Investment Plan, published in February 2025, endorsed several of these proposals, starting with Draghi's push for power-purchase agreements (PPA) and contracts-for-difference (CfD) in the electricity market. These mechanisms are designed to encourage investment in renewable energy sources and provide stability to the electricity market.
However, initiatives such as a platform to jointly procure energy and raw materials have so far not succeeded in projecting European purchasing power. The success of these initiatives will be a test of the lasting impact of Draghi's recommendations on energy.
Experts in the field, such as Alexander Roth and Georg Zachmann, have weighed in on these proposals. Roth, an Affiliate Fellow at a leading think tank, specializes in energy and climate policy with a focus on the decarbonisation of the European energy system. Zachmann, a Senior Fellow at the same think tank, has a focus on energy and climate policy, regional and distributional impacts of decarbonisation, analysis and design of carbon, gas, and electricity markets, and EU energy and climate policies.
Simone Tagliapietra, a Senior Fellow at another leading think tank, is a Professor at the Florence School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute, and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies Europe of The Johns Hopkins University. Tagliapietra is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the Clean Air Task Force and Senior Associate of the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines.
Despite these proposals and the expertise of these individuals, the Commission has not proposed a fundamental change in the governance of the Energy Union, under which major system-development decisions of direct cross-border relevance must be taken centrally. This suggests that while progress is being made, a more comprehensive overhaul of the energy system may be necessary to fully address the challenges posed by high energy prices and the need for decarbonisation.
As we move forward, it remains to be seen how these initiatives will unfold and what impact they will have on the European energy landscape. With the proposed European Grid Package and the continued endorsement of Draghi's proposals, it appears that the Commission is committed to investing in and improving the European energy system. However, the success of these initiatives will depend on their implementation and the willingness of member states to cooperate and make the necessary changes.
