Keir Starmer is moving the UK net zero policy with the EU under the electricity market agreement
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to push Britain into tougher commitments as part of negotiations to join the EU’s internal energy market, a move that has fueled criticism from critics that the government is relinquishing control over UK energy policy.
The Prime Minister and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, are in talks with Brussels about closer compliance with the EU’s electricity trading system, which treats the bloc’s 27 member states and Norway as a single, integrated energy market. Britain left the system following Brexit in 2021.
However, EU officials have made it clear that re-entry will require the UK to sign up to the bloc’s wider renewable energy and decarbonisation framework. That will mean a commitment not just to clean electricity generation, but to accelerate the decarbonisation of all heating, transport and industry.
In effect, Britain would need to double its existing ambitions. The EU currently requires 42.5 percent of total energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2030, with an ambition to reach 45 percent. The current UK figure stands at around 22 per cent.
The potential commitment was revealed in a technical document quietly published on the Cabinet Office website, which states that any electricity deal should include “a global target for the share of renewable energy in the United Kingdom’s final energy consumption”, compared to that of the EU to ensure a “level playing field”.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the move would amount to returning decision-making power to Brussels. He warned that UK ministers could be forced to pursue emissions reductions “regardless of what it does to people’s energy bills or the competitiveness of our businesses”.
The issue comes as Labor continues its broad campaign to reset relations with the EU, with some MPs calling for the return of the customs union, a position Starmer has so far ruled out.
Proponents of closer alignment argue that rejoining the internal electricity market will bring tangible benefits. Britain is already heavily reliant on imported power through links linking the UK with France, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. At one point, almost a fifth of the UK’s electricity is generated overseas, with London and the South East relying heavily on it.
Outside the EU market, UK energy traders cannot use automatic cross-border trading systems and must buy electricity and interconnectors separately, a process the industry estimates adds up to £370 million a year in avoidable costs.
Barnaby Wharton, head of grid policy at Renewable UK, said better integration with European markets would improve efficiency and lower costs for consumers by optimizing supply during times of low wind or solar production.
Critics, however, argue that the scale of the EU’s renewables targets makes them unrealistic for the UK within the time frame required. Electricity accounts for only about 20 percent of Britain’s energy use, while heating, transport and industry make up the majority. Oil and gas still supply around three quarters of the UK’s total energy demand.
Energy analyst David Turver said the EU’s targets were “unachievable” without significant reductions in overall energy consumption, warning they could risk higher debt or industrial decline if imposed too strongly.
The spokesperson of the Cabinet Office said that the published document is part of an ongoing process and will be the basis for ongoing discussions next year. They stressed that closer cooperation in electricity can reduce costs, strengthen energy efficiency and support investment, but declined to comment further as negotiations are still ongoing.
