Image: ReutersCroatia and Lithuania want a wholesale gas cap,while Finland and Slovakia disagree on direct subsidies, the countries said on Tuesday as the European Union grapples with an energy crunch.
Officials from those countries expressed their views on arriving for talks between EU affairs ministers in Luxembourg to prepare the ground for a summit of their national leaders on Thursday and Friday, with the energy crisis dominating the agenda. The Croat and Lithuanian ministers backed a wholesale gas price cap, with Croatia also highlighting the need for joint gas purchases among the 27 EU member states.
“We need very fast and effective solutions to subsidise prices for citizens and companies, including from unused cohesion funds,” he told journalists on arriving aTytti Tuppurainen, EU affairs minister of Finland – a country generally sceptical of market interventions – said Helsinki was now ready for a “temporary” price cap on gas. But she was against handouts for consumers.