EU discusses high energy prices: Babis and Orban are said to have blocked

EU discusses high energy prices
Babis and Orban are said to have blocked

In addition to the legal dispute with Poland, one topic in particular determines the EU summit: high energy prices. The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary blame emissions trading, among other things, for the increase. Orban also rumbles against the EU’s climate protection plans.

The EU states are still divided on how to deal with high energy prices in the long term. The heads of state and government agreed at a summit in Brussels to get to the bottom of the reasons for the price increase. That is evident from the conclusions of the evening. First of all, the EU countries should intervene nationally in order to protect consumers and companies from high costs in the short term. The discussions are to be continued at a special meeting of the energy ministers next Tuesday.

The hour-long talks were held up by, among others, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to EU circles. Babis insisted on mentioning the EU emissions trading system in the conclusions. Orban also announced resistance to the Brussels proposals for climate protection until 2030 and called them in part “utopian fantasies”. Germany and Austria, on the other hand, emphasized that there was no connection between climate protection and high fuel and gas prices.

The conclusions now state that the Commission, together with the EU financial regulator ESMA, should take a closer look at the market for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Commission should determine whether measures against “certain trading behavior” are necessary. Countries like the Czech Republic or Poland make speculation and the rising CO2 price jointly responsible for the rise in energy prices. In the EU emissions trading system, for example, electricity providers have to pay for the emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2. The commission recently said carbon trading was responsible for only one fifth of the rise in energy prices.

The EU countries also called on the Commission and ESMA to investigate the electricity and gas market. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously proposed reforming the European electricity market. With this, the country hopes to reduce the influence of the gas price on the price of electricity. Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated a market economy solution. The subject of energy prices is to be taken up again at a summit in December.

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