(315) Following market liberalisation, electricity wholesale prices were initially relatively stable 185 .
(316) Around the summer of 2003, however, electricity wholesale prices started to rise on most markets. Not only did prices increase, they also diverged strongly between Member States suggesting a lack of market integration. Price rises have been strong especially since the beginning of 2005.

(317) As wholesale prices directly impact supply prices offered to final customers (especially to industrial users) in a number of Member States, their increase gave rise to wide-spread concerns about the overall functioning of the electricity markets. In addition many industrial consumers complained about the difficulties to secure competitive offers by different suppliers. These and other concerns expressed by market participants triggered the initiation of the Sector Inquiry into the European electricity sector.
I.1. Main market features
I.1.1. Overview
(318) During 2003, the countries today forming EU25 consumed 2605 TWh of electricity. This represents approximately 19.4 % of all final energy consumption in the EU 186 . The largest markets are, respectively, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain. Less than 0.2% of the electricity required to meet this consumption was imported from outside the EU. In contrast to gas, the EU is thus essentially self-sufficient in the production of electricity and increasingly so as net imports decreased 81% over the period 1990-2003. Primary fuels for electricity generation are of course often imported.

(319) Within the EU, cross-border trading of electricity is more important than exchange with third countries. Luxembourg, Latvia and Hungary have net imports of respectively 62%, 51% and 22% of their domestic consumption. At the other end of the spectrum sit the Czech Republic and Estonia that have net exports amounting to 31% and 41% of their domestic consumption whereas Lithuania’s net exports are, at 106%, even higher than its domestic consumption. In terms of volumes the largest net exporter of electricity is France, which exported 67 TWh in 2003, 4 times more electricity than the next largest net exporter, the Czech Republic, whose exports, however, have grown 23-fold since 1990. Poland is third in this ranking. Italy was by far the most important net importer of electricity, importing approximately three times as much as the Netherlands with Sweden being the third largest net importer.