Press releases

In its plenary session today, the European Parliament voted in favour of proposals to make it easier for consumers to produce renewable energy. This has set it on course for a showdown with Member States later this year, who have been reluctant to create an electricity market where consumers feed energy they produce into the grid.

A European Union law is set to enter into force this Saturday putting an end to the practice of surcharges on card payments, credit transfers and direct debits.

Today the European Commission proposed to beef up checks of consumer goods available in the EU such as toys, phones or TVs.1 The main proposal is to increase EU Commission staff to assist Member States in better monitoring the merchandise that ends up on the market.

EU energy ministers meet on Monday to agree to a common line on Commission proposals to reform the electricity market, manage a transition of Europe’s energy supply to renewables and roll out new technologies like smart meters. Despite much of the positive rhetoric surrounding this file, ministers are emptying the Commission proposals of many of its advantages.