Electricity at 1000 euros, reduction of Russian gas, return of coal despite climate change... The energy war is well underway and again,
Winter is coming
as they say in
Game of Thrones
.
This did not escape Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union.
The elected official said on Friday that her country would convene an emergency meeting to deal with the energy crisis linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Czech Presidency "will convene an emergency meeting of energy ministers to discuss specific emergency measures to deal with the energy situation", the prime minister said in a tweet.
Endorsed by Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, the move comes as the 27 EU member states attempt to reduce their dependence for oil and gas supplies on Russia.
Record prices for electricity
Dwindling supplies and worries about the future have caused energy prices to spike in Europe.
Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said the European Energy Council should meet "as soon as possible", in a tweet.
“We are in an energy war with Russia and this is hurting the whole EU,” he said.
On Friday, Germany and France announced record prices for electricity in 2023, with contracts within a year jumping to 850 euros per megawatt hour in Germany and more than 1,000 euros in France, against 85 euros in both countries last year.
An uncontrollable market
The European Commission plans to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end its dependence on Russian supplies of this fuel by 2030. Highly dependent on gas imports from Russia, the Czech Republic has pledged to make energy security a priority during its EU Presidency, which began on 1 July.
Jozef Sikela said the energy market had stopped working properly following the reduction in Russian supply.
“To some extent the market has gotten out of control, market volatility no longer responds to good news, while bad news accumulates and pushes prices up,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Reduce gas as much as possible
"It's a Europe-wide problem and of course if you have the European market and a pan-European problem, the easiest way to look for a solution is at the pan-European level," he added.
Among the possible solutions, Jozef Sikela mentioned price caps and price diversification according to the type of energy production.
The EU has targeted Russia's energy sector in its sanctions, banning coal imports from Russia.
Its plan to cut gas consumption across the Union by 15% to deal with the energy price crisis came into effect earlier this month.
The aim is to allow the EU to boost its gas reserves in anticipation of a winter that is likely to be very difficult
However, some member countries have obtained exemptions from this rule, because they are too dependent on Russian supplies.
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