Jurisdiction(s):
European Union

EU electricity retail markets legal framework: consumer rights, protections and 2024 reforms: energy sharing, supplier hedging, vulnerable customer safeguards, and emergency price interventions

Published by a LexisNexis EU Law expert

Practice notes

Structure of the EU electricity system

EU electricity rules govern two core areas: the physical set-up for generating, transmitting and using electricity (the electricity network or grid), and the operation of electricity markets, meaning the flow of money. Under the Electricity Directive, ‘electricity markets’ encompass markets for electricity itself—covering over-the-counter trading and exchanges—as well as markets for energy, capacity, balancing and ancillary services across all timeframes, including forward, day-ahead and intraday periods.

The EU electricity market is split into:
- Wholesale (production) markets, which cover the movement of electricity and related transactions between generators and retailers. Generators, suppliers and certain large industrial consumers take part in wholesale markets, and
- Retail markets, which provide electricity to final consumers.

Directive (EU) 2019/944 (the Electricity Directive) chiefly sets the rules for retail markets, while wholesale markets are mainly regulated by Regulation (EU) 2019/943 (the Electricity Regulation), supported by additional Regulations (guidelines). This Practice Note concentrates on retail markets and consumer protection, as primarily regulated by the Electricity Directive. For more on the physical infrastructure that supports the electricity system and on wholesale markets, see the following Practice...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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