“I have just convened another extraordinary meeting of the Council of Energy Ministers to discuss the Commission’s proposals” expected this week, tweeted the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade.
European energy ministers will meet again on September 30 in Brussels to examine the emergency measures proposed by the European Commission to stem the spike in gas and electricity prices caused by the war in Ukraine.
“I have just called another extraordinary meeting of the Council of Energy Ministers to discuss the European Commission’s proposals“, the details of which are expected this week, tweeted Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, on Tuesday. “On September 30 we will finish what we started last week“, he said.
An extraordinary meeting was held on September 9
European ministers already met on September 9 at an extraordinary meeting where they said they were in favor of a series of emergency measures to stem the surge in electricity bills, the price of which is indexed to the explosion gas prices after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. They asked the Commission to prepare in a few days “a solid and concrete proposal“. The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, for her part promised “unprecedented measures to respond to an unprecedented situation“.
The EU executive is due to finalize a detailed legislative draft this week. Examining the first tracks put forward by the Commission, the Twenty-Seven welcomed the idea on Friday of confiscating the superprofits of nuclear and renewables, whose production costs are well below the market price, to redistribute them. They also discussed a possible cap on the price of gas imports from the EU, a measure that Brussels initially wanted to apply only to Russian gas transported by pipeline.
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Moscow has threatened to completely halt its gas exports to Europe if the cap is imposed, raising concern in eastern countries, such as Hungary, which are still heavily dependent on Russian hydrocarbons. After the agreement of the Twenty-Seven at the end of July to cut their gas consumption, Brussels also proposes to fix “binding targetsto reduce electricity demand. A first draft of the text consulted by AFP provided for a drop “of at least 10% in net monthly consumption” and 5% during peak hours.