The Court Of Justice's Direct Line Judgment: Implications For The Netherlands

On 17 September 2026, the European Court of Justice handed down a preliminary ruling in which it further clarified the concept of the ‘direct line’. This ruling also has significant implications for the Dutch direct line: the technical configuration options appear to have been relaxed, and direct line customers are entitled to grid access and freedom of choice of supplier. This blog examines the current restrictions on the Dutch ‘direct line’, the judgment of the Court of Justice and the legal consequences for the Dutch ‘direct line’.

The ‘direct line’ is a legal concept that has its origins in the very first Electricity Directive of 1996 (Directive 96/92/EC). The direct line is intended to enable market participants to establish a direct physical connection between a generator and a consumer themselves, for example to circumvent grid congestion problems. The definitions of a direct line and an electricity grid are mutually exclusive: if a connection is a direct line, it is not