Trust in the invisible hand? The roles of the State and the markets in EU energy law

Abstract

Abstract The article analyses the European Union (EU) legal approaches that govern security of electricity supply. This legal analysis demonstrates how EU law allocates power and responsibility between the State and the markets in the electricity sector to ensure the uninterrupted availability of affordable electricity. The article argues that the allocation of roles and responsibilities has been similarly structured in respect of different timescales of security of supply in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package. This legal structure relies heavily on the invisible hand of the market, in which context the role of the State is limited to providing a fallback in the event that the market is unable to achieve the objective of security of electricity supply.