Will the unity of the EU countries be preserved? The issue is at the center of the EU’s search for solutions to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s attack. According to Finnish MPs, the crisis can even weld the member countries closer together.
11:33•Updated 11:42
BRUSSELS Solutions to the energy shortage and high prices plaguing European countries will be sought on Friday, when the energy ministers of the EU countries gather for an emergency meeting in Brussels.
According to publicly available information, the price ceiling for gas imported from Russia, the taxation of energy companies’ excessive profits and the reduction of demand for electricity are being considered, among other things.
– It is important to hear the national greetings at the European level, so that the Commission also knows whether actions at the European level are helpful to member countries, both national consumers and European industry, MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (sd.) comments on the settings of the meeting.
Eripura rains down on Putin’s lair
According to Kumpula-Natri, member states must be able to cooperate also when it comes to difficult energy decisions. It is important that no member country is dependent on energy imported from Russia.
– At the European level, it’s about solidarity and, above all, that our unity is preserved so that Putin cannot destroy European unity by tightening the energy screw.
Central location Elsi Katainen shares Kumpula-Natri’s concern. According to him, the union’s unity has been challenged when the effects of the energy crisis have materialized in the member states.
– We should manage to keep a united front.
Is the EU acting too slowly?
According to Katainen, the energy crisis and market disturbances could have been reacted to more quickly at the EU level.
– Maybe you should have thought about the order in which things are decided and how they are agreed upon.
The greens Ville Niinistön according to it is characteristic that reacting to new challenges takes time in the EU.
– In the first stage, there is no readiness for EU decisions and the member countries do something. Then the pressure increases and we realize that we have to do things together.
The threshold to intervene in the regulation of the energy market is high in the EU, Niinistö continues.
– But it is of course a good question whether this should have been seen already in the spring.
Citizens’ concerns are conveyed
A left winger Silvia Modigin according to the citizens’ concern about their own well-being is also transmitted strongly to the EU Parliament.
– There is a lot of pressure in the member countries and there is also unrest in the societies, because the energy crisis has forced many to such extremes.
According to Modig, the seriousness of the situation is also indicated by the fact that the member countries are ready to discuss common energy solutions at the expense of their own decision-making power.
– The member states have generally maintained that energy belongs to their decision-making authority. Now there are requests from many member countries for a European solution.
EU-level solutions are also important for the functioning of the internal market, kokomusmeppi Henna Virkkunen highlight.
– The energy market has partially diverged as the member countries have taken very different measures to support consumers and companies in this situation. From the point of view of the internal market, it is welcome that we unify our actions.
Saving energy is emphasized
According to Virkkunen, the need to save energy is emphasized in short-term activities.
– Measures must be taken to ensure that energy is not consumed so much and efforts must be made to even out those consumption peaks as well. At the same time, it is necessary to invest in all possible energy sources and build transmission connections.
In his opinion, quick measures are also needed in the EU to calm the electricity market.
The Commission’s positions on the energy crisis will be heard in a week’s time on Wednesday, when the President of the Commission gives his annual policy speech to the EU Parliament meeting in Strasbourg.
Are the actions planned by the EU in the right direction? You can discuss the topic until 11 p.m. on Thursday, September 8.