Iran: Rising energy prices worry the EU again, issue on leaders’ agenda

Brussels – High energy prices are once again causing concern in the European Union, which is already considering measures to contain the rise in oil and gas prices that risk dealing a severe blow to the twelve-star economy. Today (9 March), the eurozone’s economic ministers will begin discussions which, according to well-informed sources, will be resumed tomorrow (10 March) at the Ecofin Council meeting. EU sources anticipate that the Commissioner for the Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, will raise the issue at this meeting, leading to a ministerial debate. This discussion will be a precursor to the one to be held by heads of state and government because, according to the same sources, high energy prices “will be a topic of discussion at the European Council summit” scheduled in ten days’ time (19-20 March). 

Brussels is seeking to avoid uncontrolled fears, and sources note that a discussion at the leaders’ level on rising energy bills is nothing new. “After all, how to reduce energy prices has been a topic of debate in recent years,” sources recall, referring to the shocks caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, the war in Iran and its spread throughout the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf is now reigniting a problem that was thought – and hoped – to have been resolved once and for all. Now, however, there is a risk of slipping back into the past, with inflation spiraling out of control and consequently suffocating consumption and production, a clear setback for the competitiveness agenda that the EU itself has committed to.

The risk of a new recession caused by high energy prices is such that “it cannot be ruled out that, given the situation, the problem cannot be solved at the European level,” they argue aloud in Brussels, without going into detail about what form a European solution might take. Of course, it is acknowledged that one must first wait for developments in the situation and for the meetings scheduled in March, but the very fact that discussions are beginning to move in this direction already reflects the growing — and now heightened — concern around the various EU policy tables.

It is worth noting that some are discussing all of this without mentioning the main actors behind this new, entirely European alert triggered by recent events east of the Mediterranean. The discussion will focus on “economic developments and the economic situation in relation to the latest geopolitical events,” the formula used in the corridors of the EU capital, without openly referring to Iran or mentioning Israel and the United States. This, too, is probably a sign of discontent, adding to the concerns.