The European Ministers of Energy will meet in an extraordinary Council on September 9, the Czech Presidency of the European Union (EU) announced on Monday, proposing a “solution at European level” to the acute energy crisis, exacerbated by the war.
After a busy weekend of negotiations, I can announce that we will convene a special meeting of the Energy Council. We will meet in Brussels on September 9”, announced the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Jozef Síkela, in a publication on the social network Twitter.
At a time when energy prices, especially gas, are reaching record highs and the EU fears a cut in the Russian power supply Due to the European response to the war in Ukraine, Jozef Síkela pointed out that it was necessary to “repair the energy market” in the Community.
The EU-level solution is by far the best we have,” said Jozef Síkela.
Also via Twitter, the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, indicated that “high energy prices are a problem on a European scale, which must be resolved on a European level”.
I spoke again this morning with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Before the EU Energy Council, we want to find a way to help people and companies that we can agree with European leaders”, concluded Petr Fiala.
Vysoké ceny energií jsou celoevropský problém, který musíme řešit na evropské úrovni.
Ráno jsem opět telefonicky jednal s předsedkyní EK @vonderleyen. Před Radou I pro energetiku chceme najít cestu, jak pomoci leadem a firmám, na které se shodneme is dalšími evropskými lídry.
— Petr Fiala (@P_Fiala) August 29, 2022
The announcement of this extraordinary meeting occurs when countries like Portugal adopt measures to alleviate the gas bill.
Questioned by Lusa, the European Commission last Friday defended “limited measures” in Portugal regarding gas, “in terms of the quantities covered”, to avoid an increase in consumption in the EU, while welcoming the proposal of the Government of expand the regulation of the gas market.
At stake is the objective that came into force on August 9, in the EU, of voluntarily reducing gas consumption by 15% by the spring of 2023, with the aim of increasing storage in the Member States and creating a “cushion”. ” before a possible rupture in the supply of gas Russian supply.
Geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine have affected the European energy market, as the EU imports 90% of the gas it consumeswith Russia accounting for around 45% of these imports, at varying levels between Member States.
In Portugal, in 2021, Russian gas represented less than 10% of the total imported.
Source: Observadora
