Sometimes when a problem is difficult to resolve, it is best to simply postpone the debate.

"To kick the can down the road" is what it means in English.

This is exactly what Council President Charles Michel tried to do before the start of the EU summit on Thursday with the difficult debate on high energy prices.

Hendrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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"The extraordinary meeting of energy ministers on October 26th will move the work forward immediately," Michel wrote in advance in his draft conclusions for the meeting.

This meant working on medium and long-term ways to keep energy prices at a level that is affordable for households and companies, to reduce dependency on energy imports and to advance the Green Deal.

Three camps are wrestling with each other

Before the beginning of the summit, it became clear that there are ultimately three camps in the energy price debate: The first group around Germany sees the crisis as an exceptional situation, which is due in particular to the recovery of the global economy after the Corona crisis. She sees no urgent need for action beyond short-term help for households and companies. The second, smaller group around Spain and France also wants fundamental reforms. She wants the EU to buy and store gas together in the future and to decouple electricity from gas prices. The third group around Poland is questioning the EU's climate targets because they would drive prices up further. And then there are the countries that see a tailwind for the continued use of nuclear power.

Before the start of the meeting, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a distinction to be made between the energy price crisis and the challenges “we are facing in the climate fight”. The EU Commission's “Fit for 55” climate package has nothing to do with high energy prices. "I think we should react prudently," stressed the Chancellor at what will probably be her last EU summit. "We in Germany will do that anyway."

She also clearly rejected a change in pricing on the electricity market. She thinks "that we shouldn't switch off the market completely, but rather create more market". The Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, among others, made a similar statement. Although she welcomed the fact that energy was finally being talked about in the context of climate protection, she warned against changing the design of the EU electricity market. The Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin promoted the expansion of renewables.

The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, on the other hand, insisted on his line and called for "quick action" to reduce energy prices.

If the other bosses do not support this, he will raise the issue again at the next EU summit in December, he warned.

The high energy prices are not a Spanish problem, but a pan-European one.

The tool kit presented by the EU Commission last week for overcoming the crisis is nothing more than a “good starting point” for further debate.

In it, the commission outlined how states can help socially disadvantaged households and companies in the short term.

In addition, she had only promised to examine further ideas and the allegation that speculators drive prices.

Orbán: EU “kills” the middle class

The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán attacked the Commission's climate package because of the high prices.

The responsible Vice President of the EU Commission, Frans Timmermans, is a fantastic.

Orbán warned that prices would go through the roof and “kill” the middle class if the EU implemented its proposals to extend emissions trading to buildings and transport.

The bosses would have to debate this at the summit.

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made a similar statement.

He also criticized Russia for not delivering enough gas to Europe, and the German government for giving Russia a lever to blackmail the EU with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel spoke out against the use of nuclear energy to lower energy prices.

The Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo emphasized that the nuclear power brake in Belgium is currently even the necessary expansion of renewable energies.