EU ministers do not agree on long-term measures to tackle rising energy prices

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Spain, with the support of Greece and France, pushed for a comprehensive reform of the EU energy market, but faced resistance from the EU-led group of EU countries.

Disagreements between Member States intensified before Luxembourg meetings with the accession of Sweden and Belgium to a group opposed to radical intervention in the EU energy market.

Spain and most of southern Europe are experiencing the biggest increases in energy prices in recent years and are advocating a common platform for gas purchases as well as strategic gas reserves to protect the market from economic shocks.

The Spanish Government explains that European Commission (EC) The “toolbox” for short – term national gas price measures does not go far enough.

France’s support for the reform is linked to the Paris requirement to include nuclear energy, the country’s main energy source, in the EU’s future green energy classification.

However, German Energy Minister Andreas Feich said on Tuesday that the current market growth does not justify direct intervention.

“In our opinion, the price increase is not a reason to interfere in the European internal market,” Feich explained.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simsone told ministers that the EC Competition Department is investigating the behavior of energy suppliers in the context of rising energy prices and will issue opinions at the next EU summit in December.

The decision to open an investigation follows a Polish complaint that a Russian company “Gazprom“has not provided additional gas supplies.

With the strong economic recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic, there has been a great demand for energy, with China buying gas in very large quantities.

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