The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU held an extraordinary meeting of the Energy Ministers this weekend to discuss emergency measures to mitigate the extremely high energy prices.
The dramatic deterioration of the situation on the gas and electricity markets is exposing a large number of European companies to unaffordable energy prices.
Many enterprises across Europe plan or have already started to reduce production or even halt entire production lines. This situation also exacerbates the energy price differential with the EU’s global competitors, affecting the competitiveness of many European sectors.
BusinessEurope President Fredrik Persson said: “Tackling skyrocketing energy prices and finding ways to mitigate them is an urgent matter of survival for both European industries and households. Companies of all sizes are affected by the severity of the ongoing energy crisis. We welcome the momentum to swiftly adopt emergency measures at EU level. Coordinated European action is extremely important. It is critical to have the emergency measures on a temporary basis, to closely monitor their impact and to adjust if necessary. The options on the table are far-reaching interventions and are only justified due to the very exceptional circumstances. Europe needs to revert to the normal functioning of the energy market as soon as possible. This is the only way to create the conditions for companies to invest in the green transition.”
In order to revert to a market “equilibrium” as soon as possible, it is more important than ever to take appropriate measures both on the demand side (e.g. market-based incentives to reduce gas and electricity demand, energy efficiency) and the supply side (e.g. deployment of renewable, nuclear, low-carbon energy sources, production of European natural gas, diversification of external suppliers) while further developing the grids and interconnectors necessary to avoid a similar situation in the future.”
