EU Commissioner: 'Acting together on energy prices or the recovery is jeopardized'

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." Thus the EU commissioner for energy Kadri Simson during her hearing at the plenary of the European Parliament on energy prices. "After a decline during the last decade, prices have started to rise again, and will remain high throughout the winter and then fall in the spring," continued the commissioner.

    "This stock is not good for the economy, it has an impact on weaker households, increases inflationary pressure and risks hindering the European recovery", explained Simson who added that "the increases are linked to the transformation of the energy system.and they have little to do with European energy policies but concern world evolution ".

    Concluding, the commissioner explained how "the Green Deal is the only long-term response to the volatility of the energy market". 

"Europe must act quickly also at the level of the Member States by exploiting the strength of its internal market, next week we will present a toolbox that Member States can use according to European law, both in the short and medium term, to give targeted support to consumers and direct payments for those most at risk of energy poverty, "he continued. "The priority is to mitigate social impacts and protect vulnerable families - he added - we have the basis for doing this. Small and medium-sized companies can be helped with state aid or long-term subsidies and secondly we must ensure that markets they work in a transparent and fair way ".

"It is essential to strengthen Europe's resilience to the volatility of gas prices and supply.

. The proposals of MEPs and member states will be analyzed, as well as those to prepare joint purchases between countries ", assures the EU energy commissioner.

"Stocks are about 75% below the 10-year average", but "they can cover the needs of the winter season. The evolution of the winter situation is a variable to be observed closely. This shock should not be underestimated, it hurts to citizens, especially the most vulnerable families, it weakens competitiveness and increases inflationary pressure ", underlines Kadri Simson.

"If nothing is done, there is a risk of compromising the recovery of the EU", concludes the commissioner.