The EU does not want to lose any time in the fight against the consequences of the energy crisis.

Czech Energy Minister and President-in-Office of the Council Jozef Sikela wants to reach an agreement by the end of September on proposals to skim off "extra profits" from electricity producers and reduce electricity consumption.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that she will present concrete proposals next Tuesday.

"And I want clarity by the end of the month," Sikela said on Friday after a special meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels.

If necessary, he will convene another special meeting.

"I'm afraid that if we don't find a solution that sends a clear signal, there won't be enough energy at affordable prices," Sikela said.

Henrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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Commission President von der Leyen outlined in a 5-point plan on Wednesday how she wants to cushion the social and economic consequences of high energy prices.

It did not meet with unreserved support from the energy ministers.

However, they gave the Commission the mandate to move forward with the plan.

The proposal to skim off special profits from electricity producers with low production costs met with broad approval.

The Commission is keeping an eye on the high profits that many operators of wind, solar, nuclear or coal-fired power plants make.

You benefit from the fact that the electricity price is based on the costs of the most expensive power plant used.

This is currently often the expensive gas.

The Commission wants to limit the "unexpectedly high" profits, 200 euros per megawatt hour are under discussion.

The difference to the market price, which was regularly over 400 euros in Germany recently, should be made available to needy consumers and companies by the states.

The German government has already announced that it will do just that.

According to the ministers, the Commission should also pursue the proposal to demand a solidarity tax from oil and gas companies.

"This can't be the end of the road"

Several ministers made it clear that skimming off the special profits in the electricity market was only a first step.

They called for the electricity price to be completely decoupled from the gas price.

"This cannot be the end of the road," said Austrian Minister Leonore Gewessler.

The electricity market no longer works in its current form, said French Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

The price must be based more on the national energy mix.

Italy and Sweden also called for the decoupling of gas and electricity prices.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was open to reforming the electricity market design.

But that is complicated.

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson announced concrete proposals for next spring.

Poland reiterated its demand to suspend emissions trading in order to lower electricity prices.

Sikela said bringing additional CO2 certificates into the market to lower the price could be part of the solution.

Saving electricity as a conclusion to solving the crisis

The idea of ​​reducing power consumption, especially at peak times, was positively received.

Sometimes very small amounts of electricity, for which gas-fired power plants would then be required, drive up the price, said Luxembourg Minister Claude Turmes.

The EU must prevent that.

Reducing demand is the key to solving the current crisis given the supply gap on the markets, said Dutch State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief.

Some Eastern European states like Poland have spoken out against obliging states to save electricity, EU diplomats said.

The solution could lie in initially making the targets voluntary, as with the gas savings targets, but making the targets mandatory in an emergency, said Sikela.

There was no dissent about the Commission paving the way for liquidity support for energy producers.

More and more energy producers are no longer able to act because of the high market prices because they can no longer raise the necessary sums.

However, the price cap for Russian pipeline gas announced by von der Leyen was not well received.

Habeck was open to it.

But if other states don't want that, that has to be respected.

"How presumptuous would it be to say: Germany always asks for leniency, but other countries don't get any?" he said.

In addition to Hungary, Austria, for example, spoke out against the price cap for Russian gas.

However, the energy ministers called on the Commission to examine further market interventions, including a price cap on all gas imports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Simson was skeptical because that could jeopardize security of supply.

On the other hand, she called the price cap on Russian gas sensible.