The European Commission asks Member States to open the electricity and gas markets and to abolish regulated prices, with the introduction of protection measures for vulnerable consumers, said Arias Miguel Canete, Commissioner for Energy and Climate Change.

„We demand that Member States eliminate regulated prices and open up the market. We understand that vulnerable consumers may need regulated prices for a while, and in the end we will need to ensure lower prices for vulnerable consumers. This is among the most important elements of governance we have set up,” the European official said.

He pointed out that all the efforts made in fact are aimed at creating an efficient energy market, that is, having competition and lower prices, all for the benefit of vulnerable consumers, according to Agerpres.

„We have taken the situation of vulnerable consumers very seriously in the ‚Clean Energy for All’ package. There is no European definition of vulnerable consumers, but we have urged governments to have a clear understanding of what the vulnerable consumer is, to monitor the energy poverty of the citizen to take measures to reduce the level of energy poverty in the EU,” the European official said.