PRAGUE/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union energy ministers will meet again on September 30 to discuss the European Commission’s proposals to tackle the energy crisis, the Czech industry minister said on Tuesday. Jozef Sikela.
“On September 30 we will finish what we started last week,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I have just convened a new extraordinary Energy Council to discuss the European Commission’s proposals to deal with rising energy prices,” he said.
The Czech Republic currently chairs the EU.
According to a draft proposal, which Reuters was able to consult, the Commission now plans to cap the income of producers of electricity from energies other than gas at 180 euros per megawatt hour.
The Commission also wants to force companies in the fossil fuel sector to share their excess profits, the document also reads.
It proposes to impose a levy on windfall profits made by companies in the oil, gas, coal and refining sectors.
This levy would amount to 33% and would hit profits that exceed 20% of the average taxable profits made over the last three years.
The project plans to require the governments of the Twenty-Seven to devote the money thus obtained to aid to households and businesses faced with heavy energy bills.
The Twenty-Seven would also be required to reduce their electricity consumption by 5% at times when electricity prices are highest.
EU energy ministers agreed last Friday in Brussels on the principle of a temporary gas price cap and the creation of a “solidarity contribution” applied to the oil, gas and coal sectors .
They are also in favor of a device aimed at capping the income of producers of electricity from nuclear and renewable energies.
They also advocate support for energy suppliers who need cash.
On the other hand, they did not agree on a specific cap on the price of Russian gas, as proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The latter is due to speak again on the energy crisis during her third State of the Union address on 14 September.
The objective of the Twenty-Seven is to find common ground on emergency measures to “prepare for winter”, protect households from soaring prices and maintain the proper functioning of the energy market.
The reform of the electricity market that the Europeans are now calling for would take place in a second phase, probably in the first half of 2023.
(Report Jan Lopatka, Kate Abnett and Jason Hovet, French version Sophie Louet and Matthieu Protard, edited by Nicolas Delame)