The European Union's fuel costs have increased by more than $22 billion since the start of the United States and Israel's war against Iran, and the impact is likely to grow, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech on Monday, UNN writes.
To summarize: since the beginning of the conflict – 44 days ago – our fossil fuel import costs have increased by more than 22 billion euros. 44 days, 22 billion euros – no additional unit of energy. This shows the enormous impact of this crisis on our economy.
According to the head of the European Commission, "even if the fighting stops immediately, disruptions to energy supplies from the Persian Gulf will continue for some time."
"Therefore, we also discussed a number of measures that we will present to the leaders at the next informal EU meeting on energy supply coordination in Cyprus next week. We will hold a meeting on Wednesday before the start of the EU meeting in Cyprus. And today we discussed a number of measures that we could present," she noted.
Von der Leyen recommended that EU governments begin "robust coordination" of oil reserves and natural gas storage to avoid market pressure.
She also proposed implementing more "flexible" state aid rules while the crisis continues, to "give member states more opportunities for temporary state support in the most vulnerable sectors" and help protect vulnerable households and sectors from high energy prices.
EU considers immediate steps to lower energy prices - Media16.03.26, 21:24