MNI BRIEF: EU Calls For Energy Price Toolbox Without Delay

European Union leaders will call for the European Commission to come up with “a toolbox of targeted temporary measures” to tackle the impact of the rise in energy prices as a result of the Iran war, according to a draft communique of the March 18-19 summit in Brussels which was seen by MNI on Tuesday.

Measures proposed by Commission officials in recent comments suggest the toolbox could include price caps, subsidies, tax reliefs and more flexible state aid rules to support energy-intensive industries.  

The energy spike, as well as longer-term and structural issues, will dominate the EU's “competitiveness summit”, officials said, with a discussion on the EU's emissions trading scheme likely to prove particularly controversial. Italy, Poland and others are pushing for further delays and dilution of the scheme while the Netherlands and Nordic states are said to be increasingly vocal in its defence because of large sunk investments in the programme. (See MNI INTERVIEW: Poland Says One-Year ETS2 Delay Not Enough)