Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
On the eve of the European summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday in the Belgian capital, Brussels, Italian President Sergio Mattarella stressed the need to increase the solidarity and unity of the European Union on energy in light of the escalation of prices due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
This came during Mattarella's meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Italian capital, Rome, according to the Italian news agency "ANSA" in its English version.
During the meeting, the two presidents affirmed clear support for Ukraine against Russia, recognition of Poland's work in receiving Ukrainian refugees, and stressed the need for greater European solidarity and unity, starting with the energy issue, which carries risks that may cause serious consequences for citizens and companies in European countries.
Hours before that, the President of the European Union, Charles Michel, had invited the leaders of the member states to attend the summit scheduled in Brussels on tomorrow and the day after, and the European Council in Brussels published the text of Michel’s message to the leaders, which said:
Our discussions in Prague recently, allowed us to have a frank exchange. We will build concretely on this at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday.
The focal point of our agenda is the energy crisis, which we must deal with as quickly as possible. In particular, we must inevitably ramp up our three lines of action: reducing demand, ensuring security of supply and containing prices.
Our meeting will be an opportunity to examine further measures that can bring prices down. This includes: taking full advantage of our unit's negotiating leverage at 27 through joint gas procurement, establishing a new standard that more accurately reflects conditions in the gas market, and examining the temporary dynamic price limit. I also expect that we will address other market interventions in the short and long term, such as the EU Framework for Reducing the Price of Gas for Electricity Generation. I am confident that, despite various national constraints, we will approach the energy debate in a constructive manner, bearing in mind our pressing collective interest.
Our economic prospects will largely depend on how we manage our energy crisis. As a corollary to our energy discussion, I would also like to focus on effectively coordinating our economic policy responses including support for common European solutions.