EU international locations at odds over the way to deal with vitality disaster By Reuters

By Gabriela Baczynska and Charlotte Van Campenhout

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Croatia and Lithuania desire a wholesale gasoline cap, Germany prefers different options, whereas Finland and Slovakia disagree on direct subsidies, the international locations mentioned on Tuesday because the European Union grapples with an vitality crunch.

Germany – the bloc’s greatest economic system and the primary opponent of capping gasoline costs – mentioned joint purchases, decreasing consumption and boosting provide had been the best way to go as an alternative.

Officers from these international locations expressed their views on arriving for talks between EU affairs ministers in Luxembourg to organize the bottom for a summit of their nationwide leaders on Thursday and Friday, with the vitality disaster dominating the agenda.

Forward of the summit, the EU’s govt European Fee will suggest individually on Tuesday one other set of measures to curb excessive vitality costs. They’d not, nonetheless, embody a right away cap on gasoline costs, one thing that has cut up the bloc.

The Croat and Lithuanian ministers backed a wholesale gasoline value cap, with Croatia additionally highlighting the necessity for joint gasoline purchases among the many 27 EU member states.

Their Slovak colleague, Andrej Stancik, requested for a longer-term market reform to decouple the worth of electrical energy produced from gasoline from that generated from totally different sources, in addition to asking for direct EU subsidies for customers and companies.

“We want very quick and efficient options to subsidise costs for residents and firms, together with from unused cohesion funds,” he advised journalists on arriving on the assembly in Luxembourg.

Tytti Tuppurainen, EU affairs minister of Finland – a rustic typically sceptical of market interventions – mentioned Helsinki was now prepared for a “short-term” value cap on gasoline. However she was towards handouts for customers.

“As an alternative of subsidising particular person households, we should always slightly increase funding in inexperienced vitality,” she mentioned, including that might additionally restrict Europe’s reliance on vitality suppliers equivalent to Russia.

German EU affairs minister Anna Luehrmann confused the necessity for joint gasoline purchases, in addition to slicing consumption and diversifying provide construction by including extra renewable sources and totally different suppliers.

“It is necessary that nationwide and European measures work hand-in-hand,” mentioned Luehrmann, with out mentioning a cap in any respect.

(This story has been formally corrected eradicating Slovenian minister’s remark, after a Slovenian EU mission spokeswoman mentioned the state secretary misspoke and the Slovenian authorities backs a wholesale gasoline cap slightly than a cap on liquefied gasoline solely)