This contribution analyses the European electricity markets with respect to their aptitude to absorb large amounts of wind energy. Thereby in a first step the market designs of the major European power markets in France, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain and UK are reviewed, with a particular focus on liquidity in the spot and intraday markets. Then some key features of the short-term adjustments required by wind energy are discussed and the necessity of sufficient liquidity in intraday markets is highlighted. For the example of the German market subsequently the discrepancy between the physical short-term adjustment needs and the traded volumes on the intraday market is analyzed. This leads to an evaluation of proposals for improving the liquidity on the short-term market, including the use of continuous spot trading like in UK or the use of intraday auctions like in Spain. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.