The present paper analyses the evolution of the capacity markets within the context of the European electricity markets. Specifically, it analyses the history of European capacity markets and the new challenges that the emergence of these markets brings to the process of the European internal market.

The present paper investigates the use of cooperative game theory and its methods in the emerging landscape of the capacity markets in Europe. In order not to hinder the development of Europe's internal electricity market and to reduce the costs of ensuring the security of supply in electricity, the coordination between the continent's countries is deemed necessary on regional or even European level. Cooperative game theory methods are ideal to support the establishment of such coordination initiatives and then to allocate the savings occurring from this coordination in the most robust and rational way.