Five countries including Spain and France asked EU for energy regulation change

MADRID (Reuters) - A group of five countries including Spain and France, have asked the European Union to reform energy regulation to support consumers hit by soaring power prices, Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Thursday.

"Today five countries...that represent more than 45% of Europe's population have requested via a non-paper to revise the regulation to better protect consumers," she told a joint news conference with French counterpart Bruno Le Maire.

Italy, Greece and Romania also signed the paper, she said.

(Reporting by Nathan Allen, editing by Andrei Khalip)