European Union measures to counter rising gas prices
The European Union has unveiled its recipes to counter soaring gas prices.
© CC0 Pixabay / Magnascan
Text by: Pierre Benazet Follow
2 min
Faced with soaring gas prices, the European Commission has published what it calls a "toolbox", instruments intended for individual use by the 27 Member States of the European Union.
Long-term measures are being considered to make Europe more resilient in the face of energy price volatility, but it is on the immediate reaction that the European Commission is focusing.
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From our correspondent in Brussels,
The instruments of the European toolbox largely bring together expected measures, because they include what some countries had already started to do or envisage.
For the Commission, it is above all a question of saying whether or not it authorizes a list of measures, whether they are compatible with EU law.
The priority is to support the less wealthy households, with staggered payments of bills, bill deferrals, or even energy checks.
Likewise, targeted reductions, energy tax rates can be offered to vulnerable households and these measures will also need to be established on a temporary basis.
► Read also: Energy: European countries are trying to limit the impact of the price increase
In the longer term, the Commission wants to study group purchases or extend strategic gas storage.
But above all, it wants to bet even more on renewable energies and it avoids commenting on the
nuclear
issue
.
It remains to be seen now whether all 27 considered these proposals from the European Commission sufficient, since they are far from all on the same wavelength.
The French idea of removing the coupling between the price of gas and electricity will be studied.
Nothing more for the moment.
But in the face of those who sound the alarm bells, some, like the Germans or the Dutch, consider short-term measures unnecessary, because according to them, the market will regulate itself.
► Also listen: European Union: do we need an energy reform?
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European Union
Energies
consumption