Rising electricity and gas prices are making energy bills for millions of Europeans “unpayable”, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warned in a statement on Tuesday.
From July 2021 to July 2022, the cost of gas and electricity increased by 38% across Europe “and rising”.
Consequently, in sixteen Member States of the European Union (EU), including France, “workers who receive the minimum wage must set aside the equivalent of one month’s wages or more to continue having electricity and heating in the home,” lament the unions. In 2021, this was only the case in eight of the twenty-seven EU Member States.
In 2022, an Estonian worker must work 26 more days than in 2021 to pay his annual energy bill, and a Dutch worker 20 more days.
A six point plan
In Slovakia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Italy, “the average annual energy bill now represents more than a month’s salary for an asset paid with the average salary” of their country, details the ETUC.
The unions are therefore calling on European governments, which will meet at the end of the week in Prague to discuss energy issues, to “stop unsustainable price increases”.
In a six-point plan for policymakers on the continent, they call for higher wages and, in particular, minimum wages. The ETUC also calls for limiting energy bills and taxing “windfall profits” from energy companies. Paris and Berlin have been pushing in recent days for a simple non-tax “contribution” from these companies.
Source: BFM TV
