On Wednesday 6 October the Jacques Delors Institute published a paper outlining possible solutions to soaring energy prices in Europe.
In the very short term (winter 2021-2022), the think tank believes that it is up to EU Member States to use the tools at their disposal (lowering VAT, suspending taxes, direct subsidies, increasing social benefits) “to provide concrete responses to the human and social emergency”, given that the EU’s room for manoeuvre is very limited.
In the medium term (2022-2030), the Institute considers that the EU should use the upcoming legislative package on gas, scheduled for December, as an opportunity to try to move away from fossil fuels, including gas, because “the only way to leave behind fossil fuel price crises is to leave behind fossil fuels”.
It recommends: - mandating building renovation obligations for certain owners as part of the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2010/31); - banning the sale of fossil fuel water heaters for residential heating purposes by 2025; - developing renewable heating sources and green hydrogen; - increasing the funds allocated to the future ‘Social Climate Fund’; - creating a “European central buying office for gas”.
See the proposals of the Jacques Delors Institute: https://bit.ly/3iI85J4 (in French) (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)