Natural gas, refineries, and networks: von der Leyen’s plan to tackle high energy prices

Brussels – The energy crisis continues to take its toll, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is well aware of this. That is why she announced measures in the European Parliament to safeguard the entire EU, its businesses, and its households. First and foremost, she confirmed her intention to postpone the rules on the trade in natural gas: “We will give flexibility to exporters for one more year on methane”, she told MEPs. This flexibility, she assures, “saves additional costs at a moment of crisis.”​

 Then there is the issue of fuel. Since the end of February, she complains, “petrol prices have risen by 140 per cent and diesel prices have doubled.” Overall, since the start of the conflict in Iran, fossil fuel imports “have cost Europe an extra 100 billion euros.” That is why, von der Leyen goes on to announce, “we will launch a strategic dialogue on European refineries. The aim is to bring down costs and to ensure we have the supplies needed also for defence.” This dialogue “will be chaired by Commissioners Jørgensen and Kubilius”, responsible for Energy and Defence, respectively. 

The third item on von der Leyen’s agenda is the completion of the energy market, which involves upgrading networks that remain inefficient in meeting new demands. To put the situation into context and highlight the need to move forward in this direction, the President of the European Commission points out that “last year we installed over 80 gigawatts of renewable capacity. But six times more is still waiting to be connected.” That is why “we need our grids package so urgently.” In this context, the intention is to establish a new task force to aggregate energy demand.

People like the measures, up to a point

Von der Leyen’s announcements fail to stir the emotions of a Chamber which, on the contrary, receives the agenda with a certain degree of coolness. “Have the courage to propose a tax on energy companies’ windfall profits!” urges the chair of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, Iratxe Garcia Perez. Meanwhile, from the Conservative (ECR) benches, the group’s co-chair, Nicola Procaccini (FdI), called for “a focus on diversifying procurement rather than being obsessed with decarbonisation.”