Energy crisis: Last chance for Europe the Summit on 20-21 October – What measures were discussed in Prague

The energy crisis has begun and is being particularly felt in Europe, with experts warning leaders to take immediate decisions before it is too late. The informal meeting of Prague it was “advertised” as crucial and decisive, but in practice neither proved to be the case. And this is because the European leaders, although they took a step in the right direction, agreeing that they must take measures on the price of natural gas, but did not take decisions, referring to the Summit, on October 20-21, where the new Commission proposal, following the new directions given at the informal meeting in Prague.

However, even the 21st of October it is not absolute that it will provide a solution to the issue of the ceiling and the measures that must be taken by governments to reduce the consequences on the economic reality of citizens. In other words, while time is running out, while winter is coming and while natural gas from Russia has essentially “dried up”, Europe appears trapped in its familiar anchorages, with leaders vaguely agreeing to a joint action, without a specific context, but content with some suggestions that fell on the table.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michelreferred to the three areas discussed:

1) Taking actions to reduce energy consumption and demand. What does this mean; that states are obliged to find ways to achieve the goal of reducing consumption, without having to activate plan b, which foresees, in its final stage, even interruptions in energy supplies to homes, hospitals and other critical structures .

2) Security of supply. Regarding; Maintaining stocks. At this point, the common energy market from Europe was discussed. That is, the purchase of energy resources should be done at a central level, in order to ensure a better price, with the decline of competition and to ensure a sufficient quantity for everyone.

3) The issue of prices. In this particular case, various solutions were discussed. One is the ceiling on the price of natural gas. The decoupling of the price of electricity from the price of natural gas was also discussed. There has been no decision on how and at what level a ceiling can be imposed on the price of gas. What was agreed, however, was that there should be a common policy of reducing prices, whatever decisions are made, whenever that is.

Moderate optimism from Mitsotakis

Kyriakos Mitsotakis pointed out the need to take common European decisions as soon as possible in his statements, after the conclusion of the informal meeting in Prague. More specifically, he said:

“A common ground is forming in the Council that there must be a common, active European intervention in order to lower the prices of natural gas, and the proposals being processed by the European Commission are moving in this direction.

I am optimistic that at the next European Council, and after the relevant processing has been done at the level of the Council of Energy Ministers, we will be able to decide on such an intervention.

I am happy because after persistent efforts by the Greek government and also by the experts who advise us, these proposals have now matured, albeit with a delay. It is something that should have been done earlier, but even if it is late, Europe must do the right thing: united to use this great power that we have as a European family, to lower the prices of natural gas, while at the same time ensuring the security of supply” .

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: The decoupling of the price of electricity from natural gas was discussed

The leaders of the countries of the European Union discussed the decoupling the price of natural gas from electricity prices as well as the release of additional carbon emission rights, at the informal meeting held today in Prague, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

“We openly discussed the proposal of the president of the European Commission to decouple the price of natural gas from the price of electricity,” said Fiala, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency this semester, at a press conference.

“We also discussed her release of additional emission rights (carbon) from the market stability reserve (MSR – a mechanism for automatically adjusting the annual amount of allowances auctioned under the EU emissions trading system) in order to reduce their price, as well as other possible measures.’

Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger, for his part, said the EU should start joint gas purchases after the upcoming winter heating season, as storages will then be empty.

Heger pointed out that the ceiling on the price of natural gas should be set in such a way that deliveries are not threatened.

Von der Leyen: We will need additional joint financing for the crisis

THE European Union will try to find more funding to help member states wean themselves off dependence on fossil fuels, the president of the European Commission said today Ursula von der Leyen.

“We will consider additional funding at European level so that all Member States have the same opportunity to invest in the transition”von der Leyen said at a press conference after the informal EU meeting in Prague.

Macron is optimistic: “mechanisms” have been decided to deal with the energy issue

‘Much more optimistic’ that European leaders will manage to find a solution to the energy crisis, says French president Emmanuel Macron, with the end of the informal EU meeting in Prague. At the same time, however, he warned that the winter of 2023/24 will be even tougher than the one coming now for Europeans in terms of natural gas supplies.

Macron said that the Europe it will intensify its talks with gas suppliers and coordinate its actions with major Asian countries on gas markets, while at the same time implementing mechanisms to ensure solidarity between European countries in terms of energy product markets. The leaders of the member countries decided, he said, to implement “mechanisms” so that they all face the spike in energy prices together. The European Commission “will work and take very concrete decisions in the coming days and weeks” until the October 20-21 summit, he told reporters.

Draghi from Prague: “Three elements in the Commission’s proposal on October 20”

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, in his short statements from Prague, underlined that “when it comes to energy, things are moving. The European Commission will present at the European Summit on October 20, a proposal that will contain three elements: the effort to reduce prices, the introduction of an element of solidarity in the whole mechanism and the start of the process of reforming the energy market. underlined the Italian technocrat prime minister.

Asked about the need to adopt a tool that would allow the creation of a common European debt, to deal with the cost of the energy crisis, Mario Draghi replied:

“I share the proposal made by Gentiloni and Breton. I too had made a similar proposal five months ago, it is a reasonable proposal, especially after Germany’s decision. It is necessary to put all countries on the same level, both those with fiscal margin and those without it.”

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