BRUSSELS, Oct 6 Reuters - The European Union said on Wednesday it would scrutinise its energy market design and consider proposals to revamp EU regulation as the bloc seeks to keep its plans to tackle climate change on track amid record-high energy costs.
This year, electricity and gas prices have rocketed higher as tight gas supplies have collided with strong demand in economies recovering from the COVID - 19 pandemic.
Soaring energy prices topped the EU's political agenda on Wednesday with Environment Ministers and European Parliament each meeting to debate the issue, after EU country leaders discussed their response on Tuesday evening.
Here is no question I need to take policy measures, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told the European Parliament.
The crisis has divided countries over whether Brussels should intervene. The Commission will publish a menu of options for how governments and the EU can react.
Simson said the Commission would launch a study into whether the EU's power market would be fit to deliver the bloc's planned transition of green energy. Spain and France call for a reform of EU electricity regulation to decouple the price of power from the cost of gas.
We believe this framework is sound, but we see the challenges, Simson said.
According to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish government had asked Brussels to offer an audacious answer.
We need innovative and extraordinary measures we have requested for a joint purchase of gas, he said.
Not all countries are convinced. EU regulators say gas market conditions will ease in spring and some governments say the issue is best treated with national subsidies and tax breaks to cushion consumers from high bills - measures many countries have rolled out.
It's mainly something for the member states to address, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. That is what Europe can do collectively? There are proposals - some wilder, others less wild. The price spike has arrived as the EU prepares for a major update of climate policies, stoking concerns among poorer EU states that steps to increase the cost of polluting fuels could push more households into energy poverty.
Brussels is determined to ensure the price spike will not derail its plan to reduce emissions and has proposed a multi-billion euro fund to help poorer households invest in green options.
Let's keep our eyes on the ball. The problem here is climate crisis, the EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said.