European Union (EU) leaders will discuss at the summit in October the possibility of creating strategic EU gas reserves and separating electricity prices from gas prices, the President of the European Commission (EC) Urzula von der Leiena announced on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists in Estonia, Leiena said that the rise in electricity prices for European consumers was mainly due to higher gas prices, as global demand had increased, but major gas suppliers to Europe such as Russia had not increased supplies.
“In the field of gas, we are already significantly dependent on imports – 90% of gas is imported. Globally, economies are growing, so demand is increasing, but supply is not growing. We are very grateful that Norway is increasing production, but this is not the case in Russia,” said Leiena.
She believes that the EU should invest in renewable energy sources, as this would make the bloc independent of imports and stabilize prices. However, much more immediate measures will be discussed at the EU summit on 21-22 October.
“In the short term, we will be discussing in the European Council not only tonight, but in two weeks’ time, what to do with storage, strategic reserves and electricity prices, because rising electricity prices are driven by rising gas prices, and we need to look at much cheaper energy, for example, from renewable energy sources, “explained Leiena.
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