EU leaders agree to cooperate to cope with rising energy prices

EU leaders have yet to agree on a gas price cap. Photo: dpa

On the morning of October 21, EC President Charles Michel informed that EU leaders "agreed to study measures" to combat rising energy prices.

The 27 leaders of EU member states have gathered for a two-day summit in Brussels, Belgium, aimed at overcoming differences and disagreements between countries to combat the continent's energy crisis.

The conference was extended until the morning of October 21 due to the inability to narrow the differences and divisions between some countries. The parties did not reach a consensus on setting a ceiling on gas prices.

However, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen still affirmed that the summit had established a “solid roadmap for further research on the topic of energy prices”.

Gas price ceiling still cannot be determined

It is understood that at least 15 of the 27 countries attending the summit have pushed for a common price cap on gas to control the cost of living.

Germany, along with its traditional partner France, has been on the opposing side of the gas price cap debate. Berlin has resisted such a measure, fearing it could divert gas supplies to Asian markets and undermine incentives to save energy. “We have come together, we have set precise parameters that the energy ministers can use to agree on the details,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after the discussion.

Mr Scholz added that EU leaders could meet again if energy ministers could not reach an agreement after a meeting on October 25 in Luxembourg.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed: “Our role is to ensure solidarity and unity in Europe and Germany is part of that. It is not good for Germany or Europe to isolate themselves. The important thing is that among the proposals, we can find a broad consensus.”

Another leader who also opposed the proposal was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - the only EU leader who still maintains close relations with President Vladimir Putin's government in Russia.

“A gas price cap is like going to a bar and telling the bartender you want to pay half price for your beer. It won’t happen,” Mr Orban wrote on Twitter.

Energy roadmap

Some of the differences among the summit leaders were so great that agreeing to further discuss an energy plan was seen as an achievement.

In the interim, the EC has proposed that countries pool their gas purchases, and also proposed a compromise that would allow a price adjustment mechanism to take effect in exceptional cases.

“There is still a lot of work ahead,” said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “We are pushing ourselves into uncharted territory, where we have no experience yet.”