[EN] Grids Package: connecting the dots

On December 10, the European Commission will publish its Grid Package. Such a framework will confirm or deny whether Europe’s electrification will take off.

While the supply side of the energy transition has advanced rapidly, with record growth in renewable electricity generation, the demand side has remained largely stagnant: electrification rates across the EU have barely progressed over the past two decades.

In addition, aging, under-dimensioned grids and slow network modernisation and expansion threaten turning this supply-side progress into stranded potential, as power systems struggle to absorb rising volumes of variable and decentralised generation.

The Grid Package therefore represents a critical opportunity to anchor EU energy policy around electrification to operationalize already existing renewable capacities, and prevent infrastructure from becoming the main brake on Europe’s decarbonisation.

This policy paper proposes establishing EU-wide electrification targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050 :
• These targets are to be operationalized through six enabling pillars – efficient planning, adequate financing, streamlined permitting, supply chain resilience, flexibility deployment, interconnection expansion and active energy community participation – each contributing to completing the internal energymarket (IEM).
• Access to EU funding instruments – such as the Connecting Europe Facility, the Innovation Fund, or the Cohesion Fund – would depend on demonstrated progress along these pillars, turning financial support into a performance-based incentive.
• An updated governance scheme would track interim targets, assessing each Member States’ starting point, and set differentiated but realistic national trajectories that account for domestic constraints and political contexts.

To ground these proposals in operational reality, this paper builds on the results of the European Commission’s public consultation on the Grids Package. Stakeholder input is used to identify primary bottlenecks and quantify how far current policies fall short of their respective objective, using shared EU metrics. For each enabling pillar, the paper links the identified gap to a targeted set of governance recommendations, clearly distinguishing between measures that require EU-level steering and those that depend primarily on Member States action. This structure ensures that ambition, accountability, and delivery are aligned across all levels of governance in a pragmatic and enforceable way.