A key to success in terms of energy is to start discussing a European Energy Union with everyone, without thinking about national sovereignties, said Alessio Menegazzo, CEO and country manager of PPC Romania, according to Agerpres.
“If we talk about the Draghi report and the Letta report, two things that I don’t agree with 100%, I agree with 300%, a topic where we have to take the bull by the horns is where it is worth being countries and where it is worth having a project and a vision and an ambition to be European. As for energy, I believe that one of the keys to success is to start discussing with everyone about a European Energy Union without thinking about national sovereignties. We have to move from national sovereignty to European sovereignty, because, if we compare ourselves with the United States and China, they are federal states. (…) We would like to be part of this discussion or at least have a fighting chance. Reality tells us that the time has probably come, I’m not talking about the European Federal Union, but something in this direction. And that’s what the Draghi report and the Letta report say,” Menegazzo said on the sidelines of the Eurelectric Power Summit in Helsinki.
He added that the issue of building European sovereignty is also for Romania, Poland, Portugal, Italy or Greece and stressed that he does not see the logic behind having 27 regulators in energy.
“In energy, for example, I don’t see the logic behind why we have 27 regulators in the regulatory area, one for each country. Just as I don’t see any logic behind the fact that, if you’ve read the Draghi report and the Letta report carefully, one of the problems is that all the savings made in Europe don’t find investment funds, European financial products as a destination, but go to the United States and there they are managed by investment funds that come to Europe and buy the assets. Or, for example, what’s the point of having the Milan Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Paris Stock Exchange, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange? The largest European bank doesn’t enter the top 30 global banks on its own. American banks are, I don’t know, in places 1,2,3,4,5. Again. Why? Because they are exploiting something that is also ours and that we willingly give away, because we have no alternatives. Let’s create alternatives,” explained Alessio Menegazzo.
In his opinion, the unification and homogenization of the regulation of the European energy industry is possible, if this topic is treated more seriously.
“First of all, we need to understand very well how the European decision-making process works, which is a consultative one, in which all 27 member states participate, with different degrees of importance, but everyone participates. This is transformed into directives, European laws, which must be implemented in the member countries. (…) It is possible, if people treat these subjects more seriously. I mean, you were part of the decision, we all decided to enter this family with some rules. (…) Consensus seems to me to be something that no longer has logic. It should be a majority versus 100% consensus, a majority, three quarters, something like that. I was there when I decided, I gave my opinion, I contributed and then it goes into a decision-making forum. It seems to me that it is about efficiency. Yes, it is possible, and then there should also be a technical code, probably. Obviously, we also need to invest in interconnections. You probably know that there is a discussion in this area of Europe between Sweden, Denmark, that interconnections, but who pays? After all, this world has its own mind, but I think there are things that can be accommodated. Will there be perfect decisions from day one? Do you have anything in your experience that you can say is perfect, we made this decision, is it perfect? No, we are all a project in the making. From time to time you simply have to start working with the idea of improving”, the head of PPC Romania also said.
Regarding the price of energy, he specified that it will decrease even more as the dependence on the price of gas is reduced.
“I trust all the reports made by the International Energy Agency, by institutions like Amber, the European Commission, people who agree on a lot of data and give a picture, whether we like it or not. But the reality today is that, although it had a blackout day, in Spain the fact that it has an impressive amount of renewables means that gas is coming in less and less, which means that the marginal price is a problem that is becoming more and more limited, which means that the price is falling. And that is a reality. We have days when in Spain the price on the PZU is 12 euros. And it didn’t happen just once. It happens repeatedly, in the last three or four years. We are talking about a country that until decades ago had one of the highest energy prices in Europe. They made a decision, they structured it and this is the result. They bet on something, they had coherence, it didn’t matter whether the Socialist Party or the Popular Party was in power. “They have the path, they have a vision. They made a decision based on numbers, data, perspectives, they worked hard when necessary to create a set of legislative rules to make this happen, and it happened,” Menegazzo added.
According to him, the crisis of 2022, when prices “went crazy,” did not come because there were too many renewables, but because of gas, which was used as a weapon of economic and social warfare.
“Hundreds of billions of euros were burned throughout Europe. In Romania, you know very well the support scheme that lasted 4 years, one of the most expensive, not based on data, which created a very big problem, because we had four years of the capped price and, when it ended, we started from scratch. The legitimate expectation of the citizens of this country is: in 4 years you understood what the problem was, you saw what the problem was, take some measures, regulations, etc., that make this market more liquid, more structured, less dependent on fluctuations. Absolutely nothing happened. It was an extremely expensive scheme. Romania is paying a substantial part of the deficit today because of this scheme. And I think this is one of the clearest examples of how a public policy is not made starting from the need to solve a problem. The need to intervene is extremely legitimate, but the implementation, the execution, is below any acceptable standard for a modern country. And Romania “it is a modern country,” Menegazzo said.
He expressed hope that another capping scheme would not be implemented, as it would be very difficult for operators to bear.
“The world has changed. I think it was not fair even then that I, who run a company, have an adequate salary, should benefit from a cap. Targeting measures. Where should I go? At people who have a degree of vulnerability, at companies, at the industry that creates added value. Then you target measures. If the price of energy increases, that is, whether we like it or not, it is a market effect. I mean, you cannot intervene more than you can intervene. It’s like VAT, we all pay it. The price of energy increases, unfortunately, we have to pay it. The problem is that you cannot intervene all the time afterwards. You should constantly have a plan and a vision and an ambition to say ok, how can I do everything in my power? First of all, I choose two categories, three categories, vulnerable citizens, large consumers, etc., who bring value. I have to defend those beyond any limit. (…) And lesson learned, I protected them, then we have to put them in their place policies and actions that protect others too,” said Alessio Menegazzo.
Leaders from the energy industry, innovators and service providers gathered in the Finnish capital on Wednesday and Thursday for the Eurelectric Power Summit, which this year was held under the theme “Bringing Power to Life”.
The 2026 edition of the summit focused on: the importance of accelerating electrification across all sectors to achieve Europe’s climate goals; security of energy supply in a changing world; ensuring Europe’s competitiveness on the global stage through innovative energy solutions; and mobilising the investment and infrastructure needed to make this vision a reality.