Electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system

Amendments tabled for the plenary sitting on this text, in their own numbering series. This is a different set from the committee amendments tracked elsewhere on AmendEU, and is not counted in any of the site’s amendment totals.

1. Amendment 1Motion for a resolution · Recital Q
   Current text

   Q. whereas the electricity system blackout experienced in the Iberian Peninsula and parts of France on 28 April 2025 illustrated how important it is to increase the energy grid’s resilience by ensuring that it is well maintained, protected and balanced at all times, including through flexible system services and enhanced cross-border interconnections, to allow for an agile recovery in the event of system failure;

   Amendment

   Q. whereas the electricity system blackout experienced in the Iberian Peninsula and parts of France on 28 April 2025 illustrated, among other things, how important it is to increase the energy grid’s resilience by ensuring that it is well maintained, protected and balanced at all times, including through flexible system services and enhanced cross-border interconnections, to allow for an agile recovery in the event of system failure;

   official amendment document ↗
2. Amendment 2Motion for a resolution · Recital A a (new)
   Amendment

   Aa. whereas the stability of electricity grids is essential for the stable and competitive functioning of the European economy; whereas baseload power sources and sufficient backup capacities play a crucial role in maintaining grid stability; whereas the principle of technological neutrality is essential to ensure grid performance and, more broadly, the development of a sound and efficient energy policy;

   official amendment document ↗
3. Amendment 3Motion for a resolution · Recital Q
   Current text

   Q. whereas the electricity system blackout experienced in the Iberian Peninsula and parts of France on 28 April 2025 illustrated how important it is to increase the energy grid’s resilience by ensuring that it is well maintained, protected and balanced at all times, including through flexible system services and enhanced cross-border interconnections, to allow for an agile recovery in the event of system failure;

   Amendment

   Q. whereas the electricity system blackout experienced in the Iberian Peninsula on 28 April 2025 illustrated how important it is to increase the energy grid’s resilience by ensuring that it is well maintained, protected and balanced at all times, including through flexible system services and enhanced cross-border interconnections and investment in standby generation sources with short start-up times, to allow for an agile recovery in the event of system failure; whereas, more than one month after the blackout, the Spanish Government has yet to provide an explanation of the causes of the system failure; whereas there is an urgent need for the Spanish authorities to immediately give the publi…

   Excerpt — full text in the official PDF.
   official amendment document ↗
4. Amendment 4Motion for a resolution · Paragraph 1
   Current text

   1. Calls on the Member States to fully explore, optimise, modernise and expand their electricity grid capacity, including transmission and distribution; considers electricity grids to be the central element in the EU’s transition to a competitive, net zero economy by 2050, one that is capable of accommodating high volumes of variable renewable energy technologies and/or evolving demand sources driven by increased levels of electrification and the advancement of digital technologies; notes the Member States’ prerogative to determine their own energy mix;

   Amendment

   1. Acknowledges that the electricity grid infrastructure plays an essential role in achieving the EU’s strategic autonomy; calls on the Member States to fully explore, optimise, modernise and expand their electricity grid capacity, including transmission and distribution; considers electricity grids to be the central element in the EU’s transition to a competitive economy that is capable of accommodating all available energy solutions through a technology-neutral approach and/or evolving demand sources driven by the advancement of digital technologies; underlines the Member States’ prerogative to determine their own energy mix; considers technology neutrality to be a core principle;

   official amendment document ↗
5. Amendment 5Motion for a resolution · Paragraph 1 a (new)
   Amendment

   1a. Stresses that the development of decentralised electricity networks must respect national electricity mixes and must not be pursued in Member States whose electricity production is predominantly centralised;

   official amendment document ↗
6. Amendment 6Motion for a resolution · Paragraph 9
   Current text

   9. Highlights that the electricity grid infrastructure is a priority for achieving the EU’s strategic autonomy and its climate and energy targets; notes the Clean Industrial Deal’s commitment to electrification with a key performance indicator of a 32 % economy-wide electrification rate by 2030, which would necessitate a significant and continuous update and deployment of grids; regrets that delays in responding to requests for connection to grids result in a slower pace of electrification, even in Member States where generation from renewables is rapidly increasing;

   Amendment

   9. Takes note of the large-scale blackout that affected the Iberian Peninsula on 28 April 2025, leaving over 50 million people without electricity for several hours and causing severe disruption to transport, telecommunications and essential services; underlines that, at the time of the incident, renewable energy accounted for approximately 70 % of Spain’s electricity mix, and that only a few days earlier, on 16 April 2025, the Spanish grid had operated entirely on renewable energy; highlights that the blackout was caused by multiple factors, including the excessively high share of variable renewables, which contribute less to grid inertia than conventional power plants, making it more diffi…

   Excerpt — full text in the official PDF.
   official amendment document ↗
7. Amendment 7Motion for a resolution · Paragraph 22
   Current text

   22. Underlines that improved cross-border interconnections offer substantial cost-saving potential at the system level, with annual reductions in generation costs estimated at EUR 9 billion up to 2040, while requiring annual investments of EUR 6 billion in cross-border infrastructure and storage capacity;

   Amendment

   22. Underlines that improved cross-border interconnections offer substantial cost-saving potential at the system level, with annual reductions in generation costs estimated at EUR 9 billion up to 2040, while requiring annual investments of EUR 6 billion in cross-border infrastructure and storage capacity; notes, however, the increase in electricity prices in the two southern tariff zones of Sweden that are directly interconnected with Germany; stresses that any potential negative impact on households’ and businesses’ electricity bills should be minimised through careful and forward-looking system planning;

   official amendment document ↗