That emerges from conclusions on Thursday 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 the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, among others, according to EU circles. He insisted on mentioning the EU emissions trading system in the conclusions. It now says 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.