(Bloomberg) — European Union energy ministers may hold an emergency meeting to discuss the spike in power markets as leaders strike a more urgent tone on the unfolding crisis.
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The Czech Republic, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, is considering calling a gathering to debate the idea of capping electricity prices, the CTK newswire cited Industry Minister Jozef Sikela as saying. He added the Czechs would favor an EU-wide price limit but gave no details on the potential new measures.
Europe is grappling with the worst energy crisis in decades, with spiking costs of gas and electricity driving inflation and threatening to drag economies into recession. European power prices have soared in the past weeks with Russian gas supply cuts in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“If you have a European market and a problem for all of Europe, then the simplest approach is to seek a solution on a European level,” Sikela said. “We have to look whether this situation continues and escalates further.”
In reference to the possible ministerial meeting, French government spokesperson Olivier Veran told reporters Wednesday that France “in general” is aligned with EU energy policies. But he stressed that doesn’t necessarily mean Paris will back the “logic” of a European energy price cap.
France’s situation is different from other European countries thanks to government measures that have offered the country better protection against inflation, Veran said.
‘Tipping Point’
French President Emmanuel Macron, in remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday, said he believes “we are in the process of living through a tipping point or a sea change.” He referred to pressures on public finances, “the end of abundance of items and technology that seemed always available.”
“Our freedom, the freedom system we have become used to living has a cost,” Macron said. “And sometimes when we need to defend it, it can entail making sacrifices.”
Macron will travel later this week to Algeria, a former French colony and one of the world’s largest gas producers. But his visit is expected to focus more on mending relations than on replacing gas imports from Russia, according to French officials close to the president.
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