Progress on the maintenance of regulated tariffs for sales (TRV) of electricity, but nothing on fuel poverty!

The EU is therefore on the verge of closing the last chapter of the clean energy package put on the table by the Commission at the end of 2016 to implement the commitments made in the Paris agreement.
The compromise found in the night will still have to be officially endorsed by Parliament and the Council, a final formal step.
The new legislation therefore allows all states that wish to maintain their regulated tariffs.
Thus, the French government will be able to maintain this system of regulated electricity tariffs, to the great regret of the "alternative" suppliers who aspired to win the match to put an end to the last bulwark of free and undistorted competition. Today, with the movement of yellow vests, the government is using the TRVs lever to counter an increase in fares.
But the European Commission is continuing its policy of liberalizing energy markets since 1992. Despite more than mixed results, this liberalization should be favorable to consumers by lowering prices. It also had to be environmentally friendly by emitting less CO2.
But that's not the reality! Since the liberalization of the energy market and the choice to terminate the TRVs of some countries, electricity prices have increased between 70 and 140%. In parallel, the phenomenon of fuel poverty has developed. The European Commission still refuses to define it. Yet 75 to 125 million Europeans are in fuel poverty (see the study of Energy Precariousness in Europe). For the negotiators of the Member States, the revision of the legislation on the organization of the European electricity market is aimed at enabling consumers to better manage their electricity bills, for example by using smart meters, or to change more easily. provider.
As if energy poverty was simply a matter of managing the bill! It is good to remember the three factors leading to fuel poverty:
• Low household income
• poor thermal insulation
• The cost of energy
Without calling into question these political choices: austerity on wages and pensions, as well as the liberalization of the energy market, fuel poverty will not diminish in Europe.
For our NGO, access to energy should be recognized as a fundamental human right. No one should be deprived of it. To fight against exclusion and energy poverty, the ban on disconnections should have been decreed, which is not the case in the text voted!
The fight against energy poverty is a political will that the European Union and the negotiators of the Member States do not seem to share.
On the environment, here again the liberalization of the energy sector with its privatizations and its Monopoly did not contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. The financialisation of the energy sector has benefited the shareholders, but has not made it possible to have a coherent European low carbon energy policy.
CO2 emissions are still too high to meet the challenges of a 45% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 as advocated by the IPCC. This is more than 1123 million tons of CO2 emitted for the production of electricity by Europe.
Highly subsidized "renewable" energies are a pretext for financializing the sector and have little impact on reducing CO2 emissions. For example, countries called "virtuous" in the development of renewable energy, as Denmark has a disappointing balance sheet of 322 gr of CO2 / kWh. Germany it releases 445 gr of CO2 / kWh. This country contributes 23% of the European CO2 emissions emitted mainly by its electricity production. Apart from Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and France, all the other countries far exceed 200 gr of CO2 / kWh (eco CO2 source, Electricty Map).
We can make two observations. On the one hand, the carbon impact of countries depends greatly on the types of energy used, particularly in electricity generation, and on the other hand, the level of liberalization and deregulation of the electricity sector.
The French government's desire to privatize the hydraulic dams could lead to the degradation of CO2 emissions for electricity production.
It is high time to stop the liberalization of the energy market, to make a balance sheet in Europe. Also, if we want to respond to climate issues and access to electricity for the 1.4 billion who are deprived, we must declare access to energy a fundamental right and develop public services alone capable of serve the general interest.
Paris on December 19, 2018