"I'm optimistic the Spanish presidency (of the EU Council) has made a good proposal," said Sven Giegold, the ministry's state secretary in charge of competition policy.
He said he was optimistic that "finally this can lead the way towards a majority".
EU countries have so far failed to reach an agreement over how to change the market to boost renewable energy and protect consumers from price spikes.
Member countries have clashed over how far they can go to subsidise existing plants using new, fixed-price power contracts with the state.
"It's not yet there, additional changes have to be made," Giegold said regarding the Spanish plan, adding he had held bilateral talks with his French counterparts, among others.
The bloc's energy ministers are meeting in the northwestern Spanish city of Valladolid for an informal summit organised by the Spanish presidency.
Although the European energy market design isn't on the agenda, it has been "the elephant in the room", Giegold said.
Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela called for a "technologically neutral approach in order to support all carbon-free technologies" to reach Europe's green goals.
"I strongly believe that we cannot focus only on one technology, that we cannot split the discussion between how to support renewables or if to support nuclear," he said.
Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera, who is hosting the event, said that the Spanish presidency is aiming for a broad consensus rather than a qualified majority.
Ribera is pushing for an agreement by the end of July, but said that a deal should not be rushed through. If necessary, he said, "we will be waiting for September".
"All member states, all governments, have to understand that they must give up positions to facilitate an agreement that is acceptable to the others," she said.
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; editing by David Latona and Jason Neely)
By Pietro Lombardi
