Press

News

MEPs to vote on consumer rights in energy next week

All Our News

MEPs to vote on consumer rights in energy next week

BEUC NEWS - 14.02.2018

Members of the European Parliament energy committee (ITRE) are voting next week on proposals to reform the electricity market and the rights of energy consumers. The vote will determine things like whether energy bills should become clearer, whether it will be easier for consumers to switch suppliers in bundled contracts or whether energy companies offering new services on the energy market have to respect the same requirements as traditional energy companies.

We are calling for clearer energy bills which contain all the most important information on the first page. To prevent a contract which bundles energy services with other services from turning into a nightmare, we ask EU legislators to make sure consumers can always switch the services separately at any time. Finally, we believe it’s important that new energy companies, which offer contracts for flexible electricity consumption depending on the time of day, should face the same requirements as traditional energy suppliers.

These legislative texts will have an impact on consumers for the coming decade. They are part of a package of reforms which are supposed to make a transition of Europe’s energy system to cleaner fuels easier. After the energy committee votes, the lead MEPs should theoretically have a mandate to open discussions with Member States and the European Commission to come to a final deal.

To remind MEPs why the issues they are voting on are important for consumers, BEUC has sent every MEP a set of postcards with a cartoon on the front.

  • Our postcard on energy bills is here.
  • Our postcard on bundled offers is here.
  • Our postcard on flexible electricity consumption offers is here.

This completes BEUC’s postcard series to MEPs in the EU Parliament’s energy committee which we started in 2017. To view postcards sent in 2017 to MEPs about renewable energy and energy efficiency, click on the links below.

  • Our postcard on renewable energy is here.
  • Our postcard on energy efficiency is here.