On the 29th local time, German Chancellor Scholz met with Czech Prime Minister Fiala in Prague. The two announced at a press conference after the meeting that the EU will take joint measures to deal with rising electricity prices. Czech Prime Minister Fiala also revealed that the EU will hold a special meeting of energy ministers on September 9 to discuss energy prices.
Scholz praised the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, and said the two countries will work together to find solutions to high energy prices and prepare for the upcoming heating season. In his words, there is no need for states to act because electricity prices clearly no longer reflect the cost of generating electricity, so structural reforms should be made. Scholz, however, declined to comment on specific measures.
Fiala announced at a press conference that a special meeting of EU energy ministers will be held in Brussels on September 9. According to Fiala, he communicated with European Commission President von der Leyen earlier on the 29th about high electricity prices, and possible measures include decoupling the calculation of electricity prices from the calculation of natural gas.
According to Fiala, the surge in electricity prices has caused EU countries, previously skeptical of setting price caps, to rethink. At the same time, he also expressed the Czech Republic’s desire for Germany to extend the operating hours of its three nuclear power plants. Because unlike Germany, the Czech Republic will continue to rely on nuclear energy. According to government plans, nuclear energy will account for more than half of the Czech Republic’s electricity supply by 2040. To this end, the Czech Republic is planning to build a new nuclear reactor.
In addition, Scholz pointed out in his speech that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a turning point for Europe. He promised that Germany would continue to support Ukraine and supply Ukraine with arms in a “ring exchange” with the Czech Republic. Scholz also re-emphasized the importance of EU expansion and invited Fiala to participate in the “Berlin Process” talks in Germany on November 3. The meeting focused on the process of joining the European Union in the Western Balkans. (Headquarters reporter Ruan Jiawen)
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Editor in charge: Liao Wenyan, Lai Xuhua