European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels agreed on measures to combat the energy crisis and agreed on the need to accelerate efforts to reduce energy demand.
This is stated in the statement of the European Council, published on Friday night.
"In the face of Russia's use of energy as a weapon, the European Union will remain united to protect its citizens and businesses and take the necessary measures as a matter of urgency," the statement said.
EU leaders called on the Council and the Commission to urgently submit specific decisions on additional measures:
- 15% of the need to fill gas storages should be purchased within the framework of aggregate demand in accordance with national needs.
- a temporary dynamic price corridor for natural gas operations to immediately limit episodes of excessively high gas prices.
- the EU's time frame for capping the price of gas in electricity production, including a cost-benefit analysis.
- Improving the functioning of energy markets to increase market transparency, alleviate liquidity stress, eliminate factors that increase gas price volatility, and preserve financial stability.
- accelerating the simplification of permitting procedures to accelerate the implementation of renewable energy sources and related networks, including through emergency measures.
- energy solidarity measures in case of interruptions in gas supply at the national, regional or union level in the absence of bilateral solidarity agreements.
The European Commission has not yet included gas price restrictions in the plan of measures to respond to the difficult situation in the energy sector.
The EU has already agreed to a voluntary reduction of gas consumption by 15%. The draft envisages that Brussels will monitor implementation and can activate mandatory cuts or revise targets if measures prove ineffective.
