Special issue on European Union:markets and regulators editorial

The European Union has taken a leading role in the process of transformation of the energy sector for the transition to a low carbon economy. This has created several opportunities and challenges for policymakers and businesses operating in the energy sector as new directives and regulations are developed and implemented. To improve our understanding on the nature of these emerging challenges a workshop was organised in Barcelona on February 3rd 2015, which saw the participation of eminent energy researchers from across the European academia. This introduction to the special issues provides some reflection about the challenging issues being tackled by the European Commission and individual Members States. The second section summarises the articles from the workshop, which make up this special issue and which provide insightful evidence, commentary and policy recommendations for a successful and efficient transformation to a low carbon European energy system.