Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Hungary are among the European Union states resisting Brussels' plans to make electricity structurally cheaper than gas through preferential taxation and common rules for calculating grid charges.

A report published on Sunday, 8 November, says the four south-east European members are part of a group of more than a dozen countries challenging the provisions. The disagreement, it says, is not simply about whether electrification is desirable, but about who controls the price signals and how quickly national systems can absorb them.

The pushback surfaced at a meeting of EU energy ministers in Luxembourg on 29 October, where Germany, Italy, Malta, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Finland, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary were among the countries urging that the contested measure be removed. Several governments argue that tax policy belongs in the ongoing revision of the Energy Taxation Directive, which requires unanimity, rather than being settled by qualified majority vote as the Commission proposes.

The strongest opposition centred on the Commission's plan to set common rules for how electricity grid charges are calculated across the EU without seeking fresh approval from member states and the European Parliament each time. Italy, France, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Finland and others argued that this would undermine the independence of national regulators.

Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen defended the proposal after the ministers' meeting, saying the legal services of both the Commission and the Council considered it legally sound. The Irish Presidency, which is mediating the negotiations, says it is seeking a compromise on network charges in December.

For the south-east European states, the grid-charge question is especially sensitive because network investment is accelerating. Bulgaria alone reports more than 182 million euros of transmission investment in 2026, while Romania, Croatia and Hungary are all dealing with large renewable, storage or interconnection programmes. The most likely outcome, the report says, is a differentiated transition, with member states seeking flexibility over pace, tariffs and who bears the costs.