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The European Commission is calling on European Union (EU) member states to lower electricity taxes to reduce energy bills, suggesting the introduction of minimum or zero taxes "wherever legally possible".

At stake is an Action Plan for Affordable Energy presented today, with measures to lower energy costs, complete the Energy Union (internal energy market), attract investment and ensure preparation for potential energy crises, with estimated savings of 45 billion euros in 2025, which will increase to 130 billion euros in annual savings in 2030 and 260 billion euros in 2040.

With regard to reducing energy costs, the European Commission suggests in the communication of this action plan the "reduction of electricity taxation and elimination of non-energy cost components from bills", arguing that, by the end of the year, a review of the directive on the taxation of energy products and electricity should be adopted, as well as additional recommendations from the Community executive in the fourth quarter of 2025.

"Reducing the [electricity] bill requires addressing its three cost components: network and system costs, taxation and supply costs. Furthermore, as natural gas constitutes a significant part of the electricity mix, ensuring the proper functioning of gas markets, which practice market-based pricing, will also help to reduce gas and electricity bills", the institution argues.

Recalling that "tax reductions proved very effective in containing energy bills during the energy crisis" caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when reductions in VAT and energy taxes and other support for vulnerable groups were adopted, Brussels recalls that a "minimum taxation [in excise duties] on electricity" can be adopted.

European rules allow "member states to reduce the tax rate to zero, where legally possible, for energy-intensive industries and households and for all industries in the case of electricity produced from renewable sources", it notes.

"High electricity taxes increase bills and the current tax structure does not discourage the use of fossil fuels over electricity, thus slowing down electrification and the demand for cheap domestic electricity," the European Commission said.

This is one of the measures to make electricity more affordable, based on recommendations to Member States to reduce national taxes on electricity, with others such as allowing consumers to more easily switch suppliers to cheaper energy offers.

Brussels also wants to support the adoption of long-term supply contracts that will ultimately help break the link between retail electricity bills and high and volatile gas prices.

And, to reduce the share of network charges in the energy bill, the EU executive will propose a methodology to ensure that network charges reflect the costs of the energy system, encouraging more efficient use of the network.

According to the European Commission's calculations, consumers already benefit from the EU's internal energy market to the tune of around €34 billion per year, and it is estimated that with greater integration this figure could rise to €40 to €43 billion per year by 2030.

When countries like Portugal are calling for greater integration in the EU energy market, the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen, assured Lusa at the press conference at the presentation of this action plan, in Brussels, that it is "necessary" to increase the number of interconnections in the EU.

However, he said it was "too early to know which projects will be completed in the coming years".