Romanian Minister: The European energy market is unique only on paper

Bucharest – The European energy market needs cross-border connectivity infrastructure for energy to flow freely, and for prices in member states to be similar, Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja stated on Tuesday.

“Why does energy cost 84 euros in Romania, 25 euros in France, and 60 euros in Austria on the day-ahead market? Because the European energy market is unique only on paper. In practice, cross-border connectivity infrastructure – ‘wires’ that cross the border – is needed for energy to flow freely, and for prices in member states to be similar. On most days, energy is much cheaper in the West, produced in nuclear power plants, but it cannot physically reach us, Bulgarians, Greeks, etc.,” the official stated in a social media post.

Burduja emphasizes that he has explained and will continue to detail the causes of energy prices in Romania and the region as he considers it important for all Romanians to know the truth “beyond all the toxic disinformation in the public space.”

“On the subject of interconnections, I have repeatedly asked in Brussels for all of us to have equal obligations and rights. It is a matter of normality in the common European project, which started, I remind you, through the coal and steel union,” the minister recalled.

Romania has interconnections of 4,000 MW with all its neighbors and plans to reach over 7,000 MW in the next 5 years.

“Other member states have not acted similarly. There are no interconnections at all between Austria and Slovakia. Between Austria and Hungary, the capacity could easily be doubled, but it has not been desired for many years. As a result of efforts in the past year in Brussels, the development of interconnections and the improvement of the functioning of the European energy market have become zero-priority for the European Commission, through the voice of President Ursula von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these commitments,” Burduja mentioned. (10.6.2025)