EU to reveal plans next week to tackle rising energy costs

GBNEWS24DESK//

The European Commission will next week present long-awaited plans to mitigate soaring energy costs that are hitting EU households and businesses hard, the energy commissioner said Wednesday.

Europe is facing an acute energy crunch as the price of electricity generation skyrockets because of a massive surge in gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reports AFP.

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told reporters that the commission would bring forward a proposal that includes joint gas purchases by 2023 after a meeting in Prague of European energy ministers.

By harnessing the bloc’s collective purchasing power, she said, the EU could “avoid member states outbidding each other on the market” and thus “driving up” prices.

Among the proposals, to be presented on Tuesday October 18, is an alternative benchmark to the natural gas reference price.

But Simson made no reference to proposals raised last week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on a price cap on gas imports from the EU, or on a temporary cap on the price of gas used to generate electricity.

Simson said talks in the next few days would continue to try to find a majority in favour of a price cap on gas used for electricity production.

The mechanism, already applied in Spain and Portugal and supported by France, is not universally popular in the bloc, with some countries hostile to state intervention in the markets, including Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

The commission’s proposals will be discussed at a summit of leaders on October 20 and 21 in Brussels, before more talks between energy ministers on October 25 in Luxembourg.

Any possible adoption will happen at an extraordinary ministerial meeting in November.