At the end of the year, energate once again asked leading figures in the energy sector to summarise the past year. In his contribution, Benjamin Lakatos, Chairman and CEO of MET Group, focuses on the persistently high European energy prices and the reasons behind them. At the same time, he shows how the energy transition in Europe can also lead to economic success.
Source: Energate Switzerland
Guest commentary by Benjamin Lakatos, Chairman and CEO of MET Group
2025 was an eventful year for MET Group, as we were preparing for new beginnings both in the energy market and our company’s life. It was also an exciting year for the European energy industry, which started to better understand and tackle the challenges it faces in the global energy competition.
From a pan-European energy perspective, the biggest achievement in 2025 was the stabilization of power and gas prices. It was probably the least volatile year regarding gas prices this decade. Although still higher than before the crisis, current price levels are somewhat manageable for energy consumers, which is important in terms of European competitiveness.
Fundamental problems still unresolved
The second great achievement, after the publication of the 2024 Draghi Report, was the significant shift in policymakers’ approach. Mainstream decisionmakers now clearly recognize the European energy competitiveness challenge, and they are open to advice. Unfortunately, the energy industry is not yet ready to propose a coherent direction agreed on by everyone.
But let’s face it: the underlying reasons for the high price volatility we have seen in recent years – 90% import ratio of natural gas in the EU, as well as the unsolved balancing issues of the power market – will continue to be there for 2026 and beyond. Even though energy prices have decreased, Europe is still not competitive from a global perspective; we need more pragmatism and less ideology. Industries are leaving our continent, partially due to energy competitiveness challenges, and investing on other continents.
Switzerland as an example
From my European pragmatic standpoint, I therefore encourage less regulation and more innovation. Less regulation means less policy making – we need execution instead of more policies. As for innovation, Europe has lost global competitiveness in the classical energy industries (nuclear, oil, gas). The only way to get back to the front of global energy is by developing and introducing genuinely new technologies.
To summarize, in the short term we should focus on cost effectiveness and in the long term our focus should be on innovation. And we need to continue investing in the energy transition to make it a success.
Talking about the green transition, I am happy to see the sensible approach adopted here in Switzerland. Switzerland is more pragmatic than the EU when it comes to energy policy, even though the country is integrated into the European energy ecosystem. MET Group also contributes to the Swiss energy transition with wind and battery storage projects; we were pleased that one of our wind farm projects in Valais have recently received local support.
Changes within MET Group
What will our energy future look like? This is one of the most important ongoing European debates in which MET actively participates, generating ideas for new beginnings. We want to be a pragmatic voice in this discussion. Many ideas are floating around, but in the next 3 years it will be crucial to see how many of them can become reality – in the form of cost reductions and higher efficiency.
New beginnings are now a reality at MET Group with the arrival of Huibert Vigeveno as Group CEO from the 1st of January 2026. This transition is a major step for us. I am confident that Huibert will bring in fresh ideas and take the company to completely new levels.
At the same time, this changeover will provide me with additional time to truly think about the European energy transition agenda. I trust that we will be able to contribute even more meaningfully to the upcoming discussions about Europe’s energy future.