Hydroelectricity: France in the European Commission's sights for two decades

Brussels demands the opening to competition of large tricolor dams, which EDF refuses. A new parliamentary report proposes solutions to resolve this dispute.

A trans-party parliamentary report revived the old conflict between France and Brussels over the future of hydro-electric concessions. At the heart of the debate, the dam regime, the pillar of French renewable electricity production. The European Commission presses Paris to submit them to competition. But the National Assembly stands out to preserve what it calls "the French exception". A technical and political confrontation, with at stake a cr…

Hydroelectricity: Members' paths to boost investment and break the deadlock with Brussels Admin FCE 13 May 2025 - 21:51 Hydroelectric production in France suffers from a lack of investment linked to the concession regime to which it is subject and which is at the origin of the dispute with the European Commission, according to a parliamentary report which rejects a simple competition."It is now fundamental to break the impasse in the legal regim…