Fico Slams EU for Still Lacking Specific Measures to Lower Electricity Prices

Brussels, 20 March (TASR-correspondent) - The European Council didn't produce any specific proposals aimed at making electricity prices fall more rapidly, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) when assessing the results of Thursday's (19 March) EU summit. The premier criticised the European Commission (EC) for failing to present specific proposals, despite earlier calls, on how to address high electricity prices, which are hindering attempts to make Europe more competitive. He noted that an agreement was reached at the informal summit at Alden Biesen Castle in Belgium in February that leaders would adopt decisions in March that would influence electricity prices, but this didn't happen. According to him, only proposals and political decisions were adopted, which will need to be implemented - a process that will take weeks or months. Leaders will return to this issue at the June summit. "Once again, we agreed to agree. There's a huge difference in the views of member states on certain elements. Once again, it is the Green Deal and ambitious climate goals that divide us, but which could also sink the EU. Economically, we're currently in a very bad situation when compared to other parts of the world," he stated. The prime minister criticised in particular a lack of urgency regarding the decisions that have been made. At the February summit, he welcomed the idea of decoupling gas prices from other factors in calculating electricity prices. He claims that several EU countries insist that gas pricing should have nothing to do with electricity pricing, but member states aren't united on this issue. There's also disagreement regarding a proposal to disconnect from the exchange on which electricity is bought and sold. Slovakia is tied to the Leipzig exchange, which, according to Fico, "distorts" prices for Slovakia. However, efforts to establish such an exchange in the central European region don't fall under the European Commission's jurisdiction, but under that of an international institution that brings together regulators, and it's up to the regulators to decide on this matter. am/df