The European Commission should create an 80 billion euro fund to deal with the consequences of high natural gas prices, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas suggested to officials EU on Tuesday.
Skrekas made the proposal before the Energy Ministerial Council on Friday in a letter to the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.
The minister said the fund would be supported by a special fee of €10 per thermal MWh to be levied on European electricity producers for the amount of natural gas used to generate electricity. The funds will be used to support vulnerable households and small and medium-sized enterprises due to high natural gas prices, investments in alternative fuels, as well as to cover the urgent needs of producers trying to replace Russian natural gas.
The fees will amount to 9 billion euros annually across the EU, based on consumption data in 2021. Under the proposal, a €80 billion low-interest loan from the European Investment Bank could be phased out with an annual €9 billion to begin with.
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