Ursula Von der Leyen, EU Commission President, proposed to tax the sellers of electricity and then use the money collected to give energy subsidies to the people. Now, the EU’s energy ministers (one from each EU member state) will have to decide what measures they will implement from the following options.
- Tax on electricity sales – backed by Ursula Von der Leyen, Germany and France.
- Mandatory consumption reductions in peak hours – Poland, Spain and Malta are against the idea.
- Decoupling of gas and electricity prices. This is the more ambitious option and would mean electricity made from cheaper sources is no longer sold at the price of the most expensive source (gas).
- Price caps on gas. The Commission has proposed a cap on the price paid for Russian pipeline gas, but some countries such as Slovakia and Hungary fear Russian President Vladimir Putin would react by stopping all gas flows to Europe.
