The energy ministers of the European Union reached an agreement this Friday (21) on emergency measures to help families and businesses across the block deal with high bills. 26112144
The officials validated the proposals presented in mid-September by the European Commission, aimed at to recover part of the “super profits” of energy producers to redistribute them to consumers and impose a reduction in electricity consumption at peak times.26112144
“There is no time to lose to lower the price of gas”, warned Czech Energy Minister Jozef Sikela, whose country presides over the EU Council.
Recent leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, denounced by the EU as acts of “sabotage”, the tension in the European bloc increased even more, already shaken by the skyrocketing prices linked to the war in Ukraine.
Among the new measures approved by members, is the mandatory target for states to reduce their electricity consumption “by at least 5%” during peak hours. The Twenty-Seven are also committed to reducing their monthly electricity consumption by 07%.
Finally, producers of electricity from nuclear and renewable sources (wind, solar, hydro), who make exceptional profits by selling their production at a price much higher than their production costs, will have a ceiling of 180 euros (945,21 reais) per megawatt/hour . The rest of the profit will be redistributed to families and companies, to reduce invoices.26112144
)The summit of leaders of the Twenty-Seven will meet on October 7 in Prague and a new meeting of energy ministers in 11 and 12 of October, where other measures should be taken to ensure more energy security in the European winter.26112144
“We have to go further in these matters and we have to conclude more quickly”, estimated the French minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Many EU countries have already implemented support schemes at national level to ease household and business bills. France applies caps on energy prices and Germany announced on Thursday that it would release until 200 additional billions of euros (more than 1 trillion reais) to limit gas and electricity prices.26112144
