Greece will align with a French proposal for wholesale electricity prices as a reflection of energy-mix cost, not energy exchange levels, a stance to be adopted by countries of Europe’s south, at a council meeting of European energy ministers today.

France will join forces with Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain, Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition, has informed ahead of today’s session, for their presentation of a joint proposal to the EU 27 for wholesale electricity market reforms.

The proposal’s objective will be to offer consumers better protection against excessive price increases as well as stability through the energy transition period.

It remains unclear how the French-led proposal will be received by other EU member state representatives.

Europe’s north, better equipped to handle adverse market conditions as a result of more diverse energy mixes and numerous grid interconnections, enabling greater flexibility, has been less affected by the energy crisis and, subsequently, is not under pressure to seek market reforms.

However, governments around the continent are feeling growing pressure as wholesale price levels appear to be establishing themselves at higher levels, impacting inflation rates around Europe, latest Eurostat figures for November have shown.

In Greece, wholesale electricity prices have held steady at record-breaking levels above 260 euros per MWh over the past few days.