Leaders of European Union member states debated heatedly into the night in Brussels, Belgium on March 25 on how to deal with the continued rise in energy prices, but still did not come up with a unified response.
The EU is divided on whether to allow the government to intervene in the energy market. Some southern European countries want to limit energy prices, which are opposed by Germany and other countries.
Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the price of oil and natural gas in the EU has soared, and the government has been under increased pressure. In Spain, truck drivers have been on strike for more than ten days in protest against rising fuel prices.
At the EU summit held on the 25th, Spain and other southern European countries demanded a price cap on energy, which was strongly opposed by Germany and the Netherlands. The parties engaged in heated discussions, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez left the seat at one point in anger.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix supports government intervention in the energy market: “Today (the issue) is about people’s daily lives, people’s hands on electricity and gas bills The bills . . . we are in extraordinary times and need extraordinary measures.”
Countries that support price caps hope to ease the pressure on poor families, while opponents say it Will result in public funding subsidizing the fossil fuel power generation industry.
By the evening of the 25th, the EU had not reached an agreement on this. Leaders of member states have asked the European Commission to urgently assess short-term measures that could help lower gas and electricity prices, such as energy price caps or tax rebates.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told media reporters after the meeting that the EU executive will discuss countermeasures with major suppliers of oil and electricity. “We expect to have some plans by May.”
Spain and Portugal on the 25th received special permission from the European Union to take temporary steps to curb the rise in electricity prices. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that this is because the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula are relatively independent from the EU regional energy network, and renewable energy accounts for a relatively high proportion of the energy mix in the two countries.
EU member states are highly dependent on Russian energy. On whether to ban the import of Russian energy, the EU has always divided opinions, especially Germany, Hungary and Austria are cautious.
According to Reuters, the EU hopes to find new sellers by, Develop renewable energy to reduce dependence on Russia, and seek to reduce the consumption of natural gas produced in Russia by two-thirds within the year.
The European Commission intends to jointly purchase natural gas for member states, following the previous model of joint procurement of new crown vaccines. However, some EU member states have already started looking for new energy suppliers. In this regard, French President Emmanuel Macron reminded that “this is not the best way and will only push up prices”.
The EU has not formed a unified position around Russia’s requirement to settle energy in rubles. Reuters commented that Russia’s request puts EU member states that rely on Russian energy in a dilemma: agreeing to pay in rubles will boost the ruble and import the hard currency euro into Russia; refusing may mean energy supply cuts.
(original title Debate on the energy crisis, EU hard to find expedients)