Southern countries, such as Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal, called for such a measure at the previous EU summit.
The measure of the ceiling on the price of gas has been made even more urgent and necessary In the light of the reduction of supplies from Moscow, while Europe’s difficulties are growing rapidly, Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned the EU on Tuesday, speaking to the Senate ahead of the European Summit to be held in Brussels next Thursday.
It is noted that the Commission is considering imposing a ceiling on gas prices, but so far, however, EU member states have not managed to agree on a common position.
Southern countries such as Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal called for such a measure at the previous EU summit, but Germany, along with the Netherlands, seems to reject such an intervention in the free market.
“Since the beginning of the war, this government has moved quickly to find alternative sources of Russian gas supplies. We have signed important agreements with various supplier countries: from Algeria to Azerbaijan and we have also promoted new investments in renewable energy sources. “Thanks to these measures, we will be able to significantly reduce our dependence on Russian gas as early as next year,” said Mario Draghi.
At the same time, however, he said that last May, mainly due to increases in the energy sector, inflation in Italy reached 7.3%.
“We propose the adoption of a ceiling on the price of natural gas. The last Summit called on the Commission to determine whether this is a workable measure. We believe that, following recent developments, it is even more necessaryHe underlined.
The Italian Prime Minister stressed that “Italy wants Ukraine to receive the status of a candidate country for accession to the European Union. We are one of the first to support this perspective and we will continue to do so, in all international fora. ”
At the same time, he added that he is aware that this position is not shared by all member states of the Union, but stressed that the recent encouragement of the European Commission is important and that he hopes that an agreement can be reached at the forthcoming Summit.
“The path that a candidate country has to follow is long, but I think it should be to send, immediately, a clear message “, stressed the Italian technocratic prime minister. He explained that despite the sanctions against Russia and the clear support of Ukraine, “the channels of dialogue in Italy remain open.”
Referring to the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, Mario Draghi made it clear that Rome is in favor of starting negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia. He also called for an intergovernmental conference on the new needs of a united Europe.
As for the food crisis, the Italian prime minister called for the use of tonnes of grain stored in Ukrainian warehouses, the clearing of ports from mines and the ability for ships to set sail in safe conditions. “We need a UN resolution “and a related operation, always under the auspices of the United Nations,” he said.
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