Consumers will benefit from EU action on energy markets - Watson

11.15.29am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 5th Apr 2006

Graham Watson, Lib Dem MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, has welcomed the decision by the European Commission to take legal action against member states that fail to open up their energy markets to competition. He said:

"This announcement is good news for British energy consumers. I have been pushing the Commission to take decisive action because warnings alone have clearly not worked.

"The failure of the Government to tackle the opening up of EU energy markets has cost the British consumer heavily and has plunged 1.5 million households into fuel poverty since 2003 alone.

"Under New Labour price increases have become all too commonplace with an average increase since 2003 of £335 on gas and electricity bills. If the Government had got to work on this issue sooner, people might have been spared these rises."