© © abcdstockEU Grids Package and Customer-Owned Facilities: Positive Signs for Customer-Owned Facilities as Well
Key milestones for the EU Grids Package and the issue of customer-owned installations were reached at the Brussels level: At the EU Energy Council meeting on June 26, 2026, in Luxembourg, a common position (general approach) was reached. Shortly thereafter, on July 2, 2026, the European Parliament’s (EP) ITRE Committee, which is leading on this issue, adopted compromise amendments, including one word-for-word identical to the amendment on customer-owned installations submitted by MEP Wechsler. The way is now clear for trilogue negotiations.
BDI Call for Planning and Legal Certainty
In our BDI positionfrom December 2025, we expressly welcomed the adopted three-year national transitional provision, effective January 1, 2026, under German national law (Energy Industry Act, EnWG). At the same time, we called for a legislative amendment at the Brussels level to the Internal Electricity Market Directive in order to create planning and legal certainty. The goal remains to ensure that customer-owned installations do not fall under the regulated sector and, consequently, do not incur costs, including grid fees.
Positions of the Council and the European Parliament
The common position reached on June 26, 2026, at the EU Energy Council does not, in our view, serve the intended purpose. It restricts the scope of customer-owned installations (p. 66) too severely and must therefore be rejected. General Approach
On a positive note, Ms. Wechsler, MEP, advocated on behalf of the European Parliament for a broad scope of application for customer-owned installations through an amendment (718). Fortunately, this was incorporated verbatim into the compromise amendments (p. 35 ff.), which were adopted by the European Parliament’s (EP) ITRE Committee—the lead committee on this matter—on July 2, 2026.
For the upcoming trilogue negotiations on the topic of customer installations, this part of the Compromise Amendments represents a valuable and important alternative proposal.
Next Steps
The negotiations will now proceed to the trilogue between the Council Presidency (the Irish Council Presidency since July 1, 2026), the rapporteur (MEP Niels Fuglsang), and the European Commission. As things stand, it is expected that the trilogue negotiations will begin after the summer recess. The BDI will continue to advocate for reducing bureaucracy and ensuring legal certainty with regard to the issue of customer assets.
RAin Dr. Beatrix Jahn
Federation of German Industries
