The European Union Can’t Get its Act Together as the Energy Crisis Gets Worse, Russia is Blamed for the Shortage
(Photo : DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP via Getty Images)

The recent meeting by the European Union in Luxembourg to solve the energy crisis facing members has not worked. Without a general agreement, the crisis will drag on to their detriment instead of solving it now.

Recently the Kremlin has said it is willing to increase gas supplies if they renegotiate their contracts, then there will be enough pumped to clients. Also, Joe Biden asked that the supply be increased. However, Moscow ignored the requested flat.

Emergency action is needed to increase energy supplies

Last Tuesday, European policymakers gathered at Luxembourg to explore actions to safeguard consumers against excessive power bills next winter, prompted by escalating gas and electricity costs, reported the Express UK.

Unfortunately, the meeting on energy struggled to find some common ground among the 27 member states, becoming the latest in a series of bitter debates well over the energy problem.

In Autumn, European gas, which is primarily supplied outside the EU, reached record highs, but there seems to be no solution in sight for the bloc's challenges, cited Konitono.

The European Commission accused the Kremlin of using the gas supplies needed by member states, as a tool to raise prices and for political gain.

The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline is already completed, and the line is connected to Germany. The go signal from the regulatory commission is needed to open the taps.

Hungary and Russia signed a deal, which is a challenge to Ukraine's national integrity which has caused a row with Budapest and Kyiv. 

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The commission will look over the better option if the joint buying of gas with members of the EU would be better. Then the EU would utilize a stockpile of reserves of crude for emergency use, noted Reuters.

EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said that factors must be considered, like who pays for the cost of buying the gas, including storage and bringing the gas where needed.

But the Luxembourg energy minister Claude Turmes has questioned Spain, which sponsored the move to get gas as a group. He added that it was over-promising that joint gas buying would be the solution.

Call for EU energy regulations

This Tuesday, Spain advocated for joint gas procurement, saying that member countries ought to have the ability to opt out of the EU's current energy pricing system. Unfortunately, member countries are reluctant to compromise the EU's power regulations, so the proposal failed to secure momentum.

A total of eight members, including Germany, said the change was unwelcome to revise the energy market. The nine nations said that it would not solve the increase in energy costs caused by the energy shortage. In the end, nothing panned out and nothing short of a solution.

Slovenian infrastructure minister Jernej Vrtovec remarked that the meeting presented no solution that applies to all EU states. Even before the meeting, the bloc had much dissension from member states. Czech PM Andrej Babis had said the European Union's flawed policies caused the energy crisis.

The French President Emmanuel Macron, with nine members, called on the EU to reconsider a good solution for the nuclear energy crisis.

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