This may include adverts from us and 3 rd parties based on our understanding. In autumn, European gas prices hit record highs and remain at lofty levels, prompting most EU countries to respond with emergency measures like price caps and subsidies to help reduce consumer energy bills. However, countries are struggling to agree on a longer-term plan to cushion against fossil fuel price swings, which Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Greece say warrant a bigger shake-up of the way EU energy markets work. Those countries will make the case today for proposals that include decoupling European electricity and gas prices, joint gas buying among countries and, in the case of a few countries including Poland, delaying planned climate change policies. Our proposal today is that options contracts for purchases can be activated in a centralised manner by the European Union this could be done in situations when security of supply is at risk, Sara Aagesen's secretary of state for energy said.
In an indication of differences likely to emerge at the meeting, nine countries including Germany - Europe's biggest economy and market for electricity - on Monday said they would not support EU electricity market reforms. This will not be a remedy to mitigate the current rising energy prices linked to fossil fuels markets, the nine countries said in a joint statement. Responding to the statement overnight, Spain released its own non-paper, which read: Each 1 EUR MWh increase in the natural gas price represents €2.7 billion per year in additional electricity costs diverting resources from the energy transition and economic recovery and every day it gets worse. The European Commission has asked regulators to analyse the design of Europe's electricity market, but said there was no evidence that a different market structure would have fared better during the recent price jump. READ MORE: State of emergency on Russia's doorstep as Russia's gas runs dry.
Kadri Simson, the EU's energy policy chief, said she hoped to receive a clear message from ministers on what medium-term measures the EU should take to respond. We have to start acting right now, despite the fact that the results of those actions will be seen in years to come, Simson said. Other proposals - such as countries forming joint gas reserves - have also been met with resistance from some countries. I think that the Luxembourg energy minister is over-promising by saying joint gas procurement will solve the crisis, Spanish energy minister Claude Turmes said. UK food prices hiked again - full list of British brands forcing cost INSIGHT How to keep warm without turning up the heating - but with 3 diet tips Pensioners could get up to 300 this winter DATA With less than a week until the international COP 26 climate change summit, the energy price spike has also stoked tensions between countries over the EU's green policies, setting up a clash as they prepare to negotiate new proposals, including higher tax rates for polluting fuels. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has dismissed such plans as utopian fantasy a stance at odds with other EU countries who say the price jump should trigger a faster switch to low-emission, locally produced renewable energy to help reduce exposure to imported fossil fuel prices. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a Paris conference on Tuesday that the European energy market needs reforming. Thierry Breton, the French politician who is the European Commission's internal market commissioner, said on Tuesday that France was right to consider whether or not the European Union should decouple European electricity and gas prices.