PRAGUE, Oct 7 (Reuters) – European Union leaders agreed on Friday to give more financial and military aid to Ukraine, but a full day of talks in the ornate royal castle in Prague does not seem like the related to the decision whether or not to limit gas. prices.
Most of the 27 EU countries want a cap on gas prices, but disagree on the details, with options such as a cap on all gas, a “dynamic corridor”, a cap prices on gas used specifically for electricity generation or on Russian gas only.
The EU has been discussing the issue for weeks, so far without result, although the 27 have agreed on other common measures to help them deal with an acute energy crisis as runaway prices threaten to cause a recession in the block.
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“Everyone agrees that we need to lower electricity prices, but there is no agreement on exactly what instruments to use for this purpose,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin also said “much work remains to be done” before a deal emerges.
Italian Mario Draghi said the bloc’s executive European Commission would present for the next meeting of European leaders on October 20-21 a broader set of short-term measures to bring prices down and longer-term measures to rethink the electricity market.
The cap is part of a series of proposals and initiatives by European states to deal with falling gas supplies from Russia, which once provided 40% of Europe’s needs, and soaring prices. They have mitigated this year’s highs but remain more than 200% above those of early September 2021.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands oppose a cap, fearing it will make it difficult to buy the gas their economies need and dampen any incentive to cut consumption.
As differences between EU countries over how to ease the energy crisis have surfaced, Warsaw has also criticized Berlin over the latter’s plan to spend up to 200 billion euros ($196 billion). dollars) in subsidies to protect German consumers and businesses from soaring energy costs.
“The richest country, the most powerful country in the EU is trying to use this crisis to gain a competitive advantage for its companies in the single market. It’s not fair, it’s not how the single market should work,” said Morawiecki.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the rally cleared up “misunderstandings” about the Berlin package, which he championed as the right thing to do, adding that France, the Netherlands and others had also put put in place their own support measures.
A GENERATION TO REBUILD UKRAINE
Seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine – a former Soviet republic that now wants to integrate with the West – the bloc has managed to show unity by pledging continued support for Ukraine.
“We are determined to mobilize all possible tools and means to support Ukraine with financial means, with military support, with humanitarian support and of course with political support,” said summit chairman Charles Michel.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would support Ukraine “as long as it takes”.
It came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed EU leaders via video link.
“Russia brought war to our land… And only because the Ukrainian people stopped this invasion by Russia, Russia cannot yet bring the same war to other parts of Europe, especially the Baltics, Poland and Moldova,” Zelenskiy said, according to a transcript on his website.
He called for more air systems to defend Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from Russian strikes, international pressure to withdraw Russian troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in occupied Ukraine, and funds to rebuild Ukraine.
The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said earlier today that he wanted the bloc to spend more money on military support for Ukraine, including training, and that specific proposals for that subject could be approved later this month.
Scholz said Germany would make an important contribution to the European training mission but, ahead of an international conference in Berlin on October 25 on the issue, also warned that rebuilding Ukraine would take a generation.
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Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Kate Abnett, Jason Hovet, Alan Charlish, Sabine Siebold, Michel Rose, Michael Kahn, Pawel Florkiewicz, Marine Strauss, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Charlotte van Campenhout, Bart Meijer, Jan Lopatka, Robert Muller, Sabine Siebold; Written by Gabriela Baczynska and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Jonathan Oatis
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