The European Commission considered this Monday, 16th, that the European Union (EU) faces a “price crisis” in energy due to the conflict in the Middle East, admitting “targeted and short-term” measures without changing the European energy system.
“I’m going to speak to the Energy Ministers today [da UE] to hear the analysis of the situation and understand how serious it is. For me it is important to emphasize that we are not facing a supply crisis, because that would naturally imply the need for other measures, but at the moment we are in a price crisis and the fact that prices are so high is something we cannot ignore”, said European Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen.
Speaking to journalists before the Energy Council in Brussels, the official assured that the institution is “analyzing different types of measures”.
“I can’t go into many details at the moment, but there is an important point that I want to highlight: we are not talking about structural changes in the European energy system”, he highlighted.
According to the European responsible for supervision, what is at stake are “targeted and short-term measures”.
“What puts us in a better position to deal with the situation now, compared to 2022, is that we have managed to integrate much more renewable energy into our systems,” he pointed out.
As for the possibility of changing the operating model of the electricity market, “we are clearly interested in keeping it as it is [porque] we need the market to function and guarantee security of supply, something that the marginal price system ensures, and we also need prices as low as possible, something that is guaranteed by market forces”, said Dan Jørgensen.
The European Commissioner said that, compared to 2022, when the sharp energy crisis hit, today “there is to a much greater extent a decoupling between the prices of gas and electricity because there are fewer times when it is the price of gas that ends up determining the price of electricity”.
The statements come at a time when energy prices (gas and electricity) are rising in the community.
Among the options under discussion in the EU are the possibility of temporarily limiting the price of gas, reducing taxes and charges on energy bills and allowing state support for companies and industrial sectors most affected by high energy costs.
Brussels is also evaluating any adjustments to the European carbon market and the use of strategic energy reserves to help stabilize prices.
At the same time, the European Commission defends consumer protection measures and insists that the structural response involves accelerating investment in renewable energy, electrical networks and energy efficiency, maintaining the current model of the European electricity market.
The United States and Israel launched a military attack against Iran on February 28, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader since 1989, during the offensive.
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and launched retaliatory strikes against targets in Israel, US bases and other infrastructure in countries in the region.
Any military escalation that affects energy production or transport – especially in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes – tends to generate shocks in international energy markets and raise prices.
There are fears in Europe that the energy crisis situation will return to 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the community space depends heavily on imports from global markets, many of which are directly or indirectly linked to the Middle East.
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