Common Questions

What does EU Directive 2024/1711 do to electricity prices?

It decouples household electricity bills from short-term gas spot prices by requiring member states to allow long-term contracts for difference and power purchase agreements, reducing consumer exposure to fossil fuel price spikes.

Which EU countries missed the Directive 2024/1711 transposition deadline?

Croatia, Poland and Portugal all missed the 17 January 2025 Deadline and received European Commission reasoned opinions in the April 2026 infringements package.Source: European Commission

What happens if a country fails to transpose an EU directive?

The Commission issues a reasoned opinion, then refers the member state to the Court of Justice, which can impose lump-sum fines and daily penalty payments until the state complies.

Background

Directive 2024/1711 is the EU's electricity-market design reform, amending Directives 2018/2001 and 2019/944 to stabilise consumer prices and reduce the exposure of household electricity bills to fossil fuel price swings during energy crises. Member states were required to transpose it into national law by 17 January 2025. On 29 April 2026, the European Commission's infringements package issued reasoned opinions against Croatia, Poland and Portugal for missing that Deadline, placing all three one procedural step from referral to the Court of Justice.

The directive introduced structural decoupling between long-term electricity contracts (including power purchase agreements and contracts for difference) and short-term gas spot prices, which had driven the 2021-2022 European energy-price crisis. It created new protections for vulnerable consumers and set requirements for national energy emergency frameworks.

The 15-month implementation gap is significant: during that period, consumers in non-transposing states remained without the enhanced price-protection provisions the directive was designed to deliver. The infringement step follows reasoned opinions, which give member states a final opportunity to comply before the Commission seeks financial penalties via the Court of Justice.