Economy 26 August 2022, 4:23pm

Extraordinary EU meeting on 'energy war with Russia' proposed by Czechia

Portfolio

The Minister of Industry of the Czech Republic said on Friday he is going to propose, in agreement with the European Commission and Prime Minister Petr Fiala, to convene an extraordinary meeting of the European Union's Energy Council at the earliest possible date to discuss the rampant increase in energy prices hurting the whole of Europe.

We are in an energy war with Russia and it is damaging the whole [European Union] In agreement with the European Commission and Prime Minister , I will propose to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council at the earliest possible date. @P_Fiala
— Jozef (Síkela) August 26, 2022

The fact that the Czechs are considering convening such an extraordinary meeting of the relevant ministers of EU member states was revealed on Monday, and it has since been decided that such a meeting will indeed be convened. A similar unscheduled meeting was last called for this spring, after Russia unilaterally switched to rouble payment for gas deliveries and Gazprom turned off gas taps due to the disputes that erupted.

Energy Investment Forum 2022 - Powered by MEKH

The causes, consequences and possible solutions of runaway energy prices will be the central topics of the Portfolio Energy Investment Forum conference in early October. The event will feature an opening speaker from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy, followed by presentations by Hungary's Minister of Technology and Industry László Palkovics and Péter János Horváth, President of the Hungarian Energy and Utility Regulatory Office (MEKH). More details:

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The European Commission has earlier this week tabled a proposal to urgently consider different ways of capping gas prices in the EU, but so far it is mainly the northern member states that have shied away from such market interventions. Italy's outgoing Prime Minister, however, has again insisted this week that the move was necessary, as it would help rein in electricity prices. It is also true, though that no one is keen to talk about the financial side of the intervention.

Since then, for a variety of reasons, energy prices have only risen further, while the Energy Council's next regular meeting is scheduled only for October. The gas and electricity markets are now at truly staggering price levels, with hiccups on the market itself, low liquidity and huge volatility.

Consequently, with the gas year starting in October and the electricity year starting in January, traders can now offer extremely high prices for the next period of energy purchases, which could bring down entire industries, triggering chain reactions. We are already seeing many signs of this in Hungary and Europe.