European Energy Handbook 2026

Europe's energy landscape has never been more consequential, more contested, or more complex. As we publish this 2026 edition of the HSF Kramer European Energy Handbook, the continent stands at a pivotal juncture, navigating the twin imperatives of accelerating the clean energy transition and safeguarding energy security in an era of persistent geopolitical volatility.

This edition of the Handbook is the product of contributions from HSF Kramer lawyers and colleagues. Agmon with Tulchinsky (Israel), Arntzen Grette (Norway), Asters (Ukraine), Elements (Iceland), Cobalt (Latvia and Lithuania), CS'Associados (Portugal), Ellex Raidla (Estonia), Georgiades & Pelides LLC (Cyprus), Houthoff (the Netherlands) , Liedekerke (Belgium) , Loloçi & Associates (Albania), Kyriakides Georgopoulos (Greece), Plesner (Denmark), Roschier (Finland), Schellenberg Wittmer AG (Switzerland), Schönherr (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia), Setterwalls (Sweden), SSW (Poland).

Since our last edition, the European energy markets have seen profound change: the structural shift away from dependence on Russian pipeline gas, catalysed by the war in Ukraine, has permanently reshaped European energy policy and investment patterns. REPowerEU and its successor measures have moved from emergency response to institutional architecture, embedding energy sovereignty as a foundational principle of European policy alongside decarbonisation. The pursuit of these two objectives simultaneously creates legal and regulatory complexity for market participants.

The energy transition itself has accelerated well beyond many forecasts across most technologies. Short term electricity storage (BESS) continues to grow in importance, with project demand often outstripping grid connection availability. Grid bottlenecks now pose as significant a risk to Europe's energy transition as insufficient generation capacity, placing network investment and regulation at the centre of the policy agenda. The European Commission's proposed Grid Package seeks to accelerate permitting for transmission and distribution infrastructure, strengthen cross-border planning and cost-sharing, and better integrate storage and demand-side flexibility into grid operations. For developers, grid operators, investors, and lenders, it creates both opportunities and complexity, including revised grid connection frameworks, refined access and congestion management rules, and enhanced offshore obligations.

Nuclear energy has also returned to the mainstream of European energy policy. A growing number of Member States are pursuing new build programmes or extensions of existing capacity, and the legal, regulatory, and financing frameworks for these projects are generating significant activity across our practice.

At the same time, the EU Emissions Trading System continues to evolve, with CBAM now fully operational and beginning to influence both European industrial strategy and international trade relationships in ways that will generate regulatory and transactional questions for years to come.

Perhaps no regulatory development of the past year has generated more uncertainty than the European Commission's Omnibus simplification package and its amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

Critical raw materials and supply chain resilience have moved to the centre of European energy and industrial policy. The Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net Zero Industry Act together represent a structural shift in how Europe approaches the security of the inputs required for clean technology manufacturing.

The pace of change in European energy law and regulation shows no sign of slowing. If this edition of the European Energy Handbook assists those engaged in shaping, financing, transacting, or navigating that change, it will have served its purpose.

If you would like to obtain a full copy of the guide or a specific chapter, fill out our download form.

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