European Union leaders intend to take measures to protect consumers from record high energy prices, which have led to a decline in industrial production and an increase in consumer accounts.
EU leaders will meet October 21-22 to discuss the energy price spike and a "toolbox" released by the European Commission this week that confirmed measures that national governments can use to provide immediate assistance to consumers.
The Leaders' Draft Conclusions invites the European Commission and EU countries to use this toolkit “to provide short-term assistance to the most vulnerable consumers and to support European companies.”
As of Wednesday, twenty EU countries have developed such measures, including price caps, energy tax cuts and subsidies for poorer households.
This number is set to rise as Germany plans to reduce its electricity bill surcharge, which will help finance investments in renewable energy.
The Commission said it will also assess measures the EU can take in the long term to protect countries from price surges, including joint gas purchases.
EU leaders will ask the Commission to “consider medium and long-term measures that would mitigate excessive price volatility, enhance EU energy resilience and ensure a successful transition to the green zone,” the draft conclusions read.
EU ministers will "get started immediately" at an emergency meeting on energy prices on October 26, according to a draft that may change before it is adopted by the leaders.
Leaders will also ask the European Investment Bank, which is owned by EU governments, "to examine capital stocks to accelerate investment in the green economy transition to reduce the risks of future disruption."
