EU states struggle for consensus amid energy hikes

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Some European Union countries, including Greece, France and Spain, stepped up calls to reform the bloc’s energy market rules to cope with high prices, a stance challenged by a rival group of states, including Germany, as energy ministers met yesterday. Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and six other countries published a joint statement on Wednesday opposing EU energy market reforms, ahead of the energy ministers’ meeting to debate their response to high gas and electricity prices. A second group – Greece, Spain, France, Italy and Romania – fired back with a statement calling for EU rules to protect consumers from swings in prices. They also want joint gas buying among EU countries to form strategic reserves and an investigation to identify reforms to the bloc’s electricity market. In response, the European Commission will propose a framework to enable joint procurement of strategic gas stocks, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said yesterday, without providing further details.