An extraordinary EU Energy Council will be held in Brussels on Friday to discuss high prices in the energy market and issues of security of energy supply to the EU countries, according to a communiqué published in Brussels.
«EU energy ministers will exchange views during two meetings. During the first discussion, they will exchange views on possible urgent measures to reduce high energy prices. Then the ministers will report on the state of readiness of their countries for the coming winter,» the Council said in a statement, Interfax reports.
According to the communiqué, «Ministers will be asked to identify preferred measures that can be implemented at EU level in a short timeframe to ease the burden of high energy prices on citizens, public services, businesses and industry».
Announcing the contribution of the European Commission to the upcoming discussion on September 7, EC President Ursula von der Leyen insisted on the idea of imposing a ceiling price on Russian gas.
«We are aimed at lowering the price of gas. In this regard, we will propose a ceiling on Russian gas prices,» von der Leyen said in a special statement. She added that the EU reduced imports of Russian gas from 40% to 9%.
It is expected that during the ministerial discussion the issues of joint purchases of energy resources by the EU countries, the separation of prices for gas and electricity and the structural reform of the electricity market will be touched upon.
The meeting will be chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Josef Sikela, and the European Commission will be represented by EC member for energy Kadri Simson.
Source: Nebit-Gaz