The European Commission will present next week a new package of proposals to deal with high energy prices, which include interventions in the gas market and joint purchases in the European Union (EU), it was announced on Wednesday.
The announcement was made by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, who, speaking to journalists upon her arrival at the informal meeting of EU ministers in Prague, within the framework of the Czech Presidency of the Council, explained that ” Next week, the Commission will come up with another package of proposals.
Explaining that today’s meeting will inform European energy officials about “the ongoing work in the Commission”, Kadri Simson listed that it is “structured around four themes”.
“First we will promote the reduction of demand, then we will ensure solidarity between the Member States and we will also intervene in gas prices and facilitate the joint purchase of gas”, he pointed out.
In addition, “all these issues will reinforce each other and help us to reach price limits and guarantee security of supply and we all know that there is an urgency to act, but we have to keep in mind that we have to act together and that this has to be based on a broad consensus,” said Kadri Simson.
No decisions are expected at today’s informal meeting, precisely because it is a non-formal format meeting, but the preparation of the EU for next winter and a future review of the European electricity market will be discussed, as currently the price of gas influences the value of electricity.
“Today we will follow up on last week’s leaders’ meeting, where energy prices and, in particular, the issue of high prices was the main topic. […] and I hope that the ministers reflect their points of view”, concluded Kadri Simson, in the declarations to the press.
At an informal summit of EU Heads of State and Government late last week, also in Prague, European leaders failed to agree on concrete measures given differing sensitivities, but expressed a broad consensus for joint action in the face of strong energy prices.
Speaking at the end of the European summit at a press conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised “additional funding at the European level” for investments in energy infrastructure, announcing new “more detailed proposals” due to the crisis. energy, which could include gas ceilings.
One of the issues on the table then is the imposition of a ceiling on gas prices, demanded by a growing number of Member States, including Portugal, but which has been opposed by Germany, criticized by various capitals for opting instead for ‘inject’ 200 million euros to help families and businesses cope with energy prices, in what many Member States, which do not have the same budgetary capacity, understand as an individualist position, with the ‘cover’ of the European Commission.
Even before the summit, von der Leyen sent a letter to EU heads of government and state suggesting various measures to deal with the acute energy crisis, including intervention to temporarily cap prices on the natural gas market, acquisition and management at the European level, negotiations with countries such as Norway and the United States and even limits on the price of natural gas for electricity production.
Geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine have affected the European energy market, especially as the EU relies on Russian fossil fuels, such as gas, and fears supply cuts this fall and winter.
Source: TSF
