It is time that the European Union stopped trying to defend a piece of institutional fiction: capital does not move freely in the EU, as protectionist barriers in France, Germany or Italy attest. Because companies cannot invest freely in each other’s economies we do not have a common energy market. This is something Europe needs now more than ever before.

To have a common European energy market and pan-European energy companies, we also need pan-European rules that govern cross-border acquisitions. We are still far from this goal.