EU Energy Reforms Deadlocked

European Union countries failed on Monday to agree on planned new rules for the bloc's power market, having clashed over a proposal to extend subsidies for coal plants under the reform, and a push to expand state aid for other power plants.
EU energy ministers meeting in Luxembourg ended talks without a joint stance on the reforms that seek to avoid a repeat of last year's energy crisis, when record-high gas prices left consumers with soaring energy bills, Reuters reported.
The talks had been complicated by a late proposal by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, to allow countries to prolong capacity mechanism subsidies for coal power plants that pay generators to keep capacity on standby to avoid blackouts.
EU countries' ambassadors will take up the negotiations, aiming for a deal this month.