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European Union countries meet on Friday to approve emergency levies on energy firms’ windfall profits and launch talks on their next move to tackle Europe’s energy crunch – possibly, a gas price cap.
Energy ministers from the 27 EU member countries are negotiating measures proposed by Brussels last week to attempt to contain an energy price surge that is stoking record-high inflation and threatening a recession.
They include a levy on fossil fuel companies’ surplus profits made in 2022 or 2023, another levy on excess revenues that low-cost power producers make from soaring electricity costs, and a mandatory 5% cut in electricity use during peak price periods.
Diplomats from several countries were confident ministers would approve the package on Friday.
Then, the ministers will turn their attention to the EU’s next move to contain the price crunch – which many countries have said should be a broad gas price cap, while others – most notably, Germany – remain opposed.
“On the price cap, there is nothing near a consensus,” a diplomat from one EU country said.
Fifteen countries, including France, Italy and Poland, this week asked Brussels to propose a price cap on all wholesale gas transactions, to contain inflation.
