EC to propose Russian gas price cap, says Ursula Von der Leyen

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission (EC) will propose a cap on the price of Russian gas among other measures aimed at overcoming the current energy crisis and combating Russia’s “manipulation” of energy markets, the president of the EU said on Wednesday. the European executive, Ursula von der Leyen.

“We must reduce the income from Russia that Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

The EC plan also provides for the establishment of a mandatory target for reducing electricity consumption at peak times or a “solidarity contribution for fossil fuel companies”, while oil and gas companies made “massive profits” with soaring energy prices.

The President of the European Executive presented this Wednesday to the ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven to the European Union the main lines of the Commission’s plan to deal with this crisis, which will be specified in her speech on the State of the Union scheduled for Wednesday 14 September before the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg.

(Report Kate Abnett and Marine Strauss, French version Myriam Rivet, edited by Nicolas Delame)