CHAPTER II GENERAL RULES FOR THE ELECTRICITY MARKET

prices shall be formed on the basis of demand and supply;

market rules shall encourage free price formation and shall avoid actions which prevent price formation on the basis of demand and supply;

market rules shall facilitate the development of more flexible generation, sustainable low carbon generation, and more flexible demand;

customers shall be enabled to benefit from market opportunities and increased competition on retail markets and shall be empowered to act as market participants in the energy market and the energy transition;

market participation of final customers and small enterprises shall be enabled by aggregation of generation from multiple power-generating facilities or load from multiple demand response facilities to provide joint offers on the electricity market and be jointly operated in the electricity system, in accordance with Union competition law;

market rules shall enable the decarbonisation of the electricity system and thus the economy, including by enabling the integration of electricity from renewable energy sources and by providing incentives for energy efficiency;

market rules shall deliver appropriate investment incentives for generation, in particular for long-term investments in a decarbonised and sustainable electricity system, energy storage, energy efficiency and demand response to meet market needs, and shall facilitate fair competition thus ensuring security of supply;

barriers to cross-border electricity flows between bidding zones or Member States and cross-border transactions on electricity markets and related services markets shall be progressively removed;

market rules shall provide for regional cooperation where effective;

safe and sustainable generation, energy storage and demand response shall participate on equal footing in the market, under the requirements provided for in the Union law;

all producers shall be directly or indirectly responsible for selling the electricity they generate;

market rules shall allow for the development of demonstration projects into sustainable, secure and low-carbon energy sources, technologies or systems which are to be realised and used to the benefit of society;

market rules shall enable the efficient dispatch of generation assets, energy storage and demand response;

market rules shall allow for entry and exit of electricity generation, energy storage and electricity supply undertakings based on those undertakings' assessment of the economic and financial viability of their operations;

in order to allow market participants to be protected against price volatility risks on a market basis, and mitigate uncertainty on future returns on investment, long-term hedging products shall be tradable on exchanges in a transparent manner and long-term electricity supply contracts shall be negotiable over the counter, subject to compliance with Union competition law;

market rules shall facilitate trade of products across the Union and. regulatory changes shall take into account effects on both short-term and long-term forward and futures markets and products;

market participants shall have a right to obtain access to the transmission networks and distribution networks on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory terms.