Position paper: Targeted reform of the Electricity Market Design

May 11, 2023

Cepi, the Confederation of European Paper Industries, welcomes with relief the European Commission’s proposal for the reform of the Electricity Market Design (EMD). While we expect the co-negotiators to further clarify the provisions of the targeted amendments, the scope of the proposal should not be further extended. The reform should primarily aim at ensuring a stable energy market, a competitive price for industrial consumers and a reliable energy supply.

The paper industry is the fourth largest industrial energy consumer in Europe. Before the energy crisis, our sector was a net buyer of about 40 TWh of electricity. Around half of the electricity consumed by our sector is produced on-site via highly efficient cogeneration (CHP). Our industry is the largest industrial consumer and generator of renewable energy with biomass coming from side streams of our activities accounting for almost 61% of our fuel mix.


The EU legislation must ensure that the European pulp and paper industry stays competitive in the global market. To this end, among others, it must provide access to all affordable fossil-free energy sources such as renewable electricity, biogas, hydrogen or nuclear power. All the asks can be found in the full version of the document.

Full position paper can be found here.