Zonal pricing (UK) does not conflict with grid funding, it is the grid funding. It also exposes the economic incentives for allowing new grid infrastructure to be built.
I hope you're right. Incentives both ways and support for national
infra is ideal. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia just showed [0] how
flexible grids can be at the international level. However I think at
the national level some countries aren't that happy to support
national grids.
[0] https://www.dw.com/en/brell-lithuania-latvia-and-estonia-tur...