Energies: Europeans pave the way for “unprecedented” emergency measures

European energy and climate ministers are meeting this Friday, September 9 in Brussels, Belgium, against a backdrop of the energy crisis.

© REUTERS/Yves Herman

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European energy ministers said they were in favor this Friday, September 9, of a series of emergency measures to stem the rise in gas and electricity bills, even mentioning a cap on the price of gas imports from the EU. .

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Gathered in Brussels, the representatives of the Twenty-Seven knew they were expected to stem the surge in energy prices, as winter approached.

European ministers agree on a " 

common orientation

 "

to stem the surge in energy prices caused by the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

“ 

We will present unprecedented measures next week to respond to an unprecedented situation 

,” said Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson. 

Ahead of the meeting, the European executive had submitted to the Member States several possible, often complex, mechanisms, with the hope of arriving by Wednesday at a legislative project sufficiently consensual to be quickly approved.

While the idea of ​​confiscating superprofits from nuclear and renewables to redistribute them was welcomed, as was a possible objective to reduce electricity consumption, the proposal to cap the price of gas paid to Russia was debated.

Threats from Moscow

While Moscow threatens to stop its deliveries if such a mechanism is applied, Hungary, still very dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, showed its fierce opposition to this "

 new disguised sanction

 " likely to cause a " 

shortage

", while Prague denounced "

 an unconstructive idea

 .

In the end, "

the dominant opinion was that we needed a cap on gas

", whatever its origin, "

but the Commission must be given time to refine the way of implementing it

", said Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela.

In France, the measures taken by Brussels were carefully scrutinized.

And for Frank Roubanovitch, the president of Cleee, the association bringing together large electricity and gas consuming companies in France, this is not enough. 

Business concern is at its peak and the minimum we can expect from the European Commission are urgent decisions

Franck Rabounovitch: “There is an emergency”

Alexis Bedu

►

To read also: 

Europe facing the energy crisis

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