Belgium speculates when EU will agree on gas price ceiling

BRUSSELS, 11 Oct – PRIME. Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo believes that the leaders of the EU countries at the upcoming October 21 summit will be able to agree on the introduction of a ceiling on gas prices, since only such a solution, according to him, will help overcome the energy crisis.

“The decision will probably be made at the summit in Brussels. Belgium worked hard on this issue. Until recently, we were the only country that advocated setting a ceiling on gas prices. Now more than 20 states agree with us,” de Croo said in an interview with a local TV channel RTL.

According to him, Belgium cannot introduce limit gas prices on its own, as, for example, Spain did, as it is too connected in this area with other EU states. In his opinion, if a pan-European decision is adopted, the EU as a bloc will be able to dictate its prices to suppliers, for example, Russia.

At the same time, any subsidies that the government pays to citizens and companies due to high energy prices must eventually be covered from some kind of funds. “Therefore, it is necessary to solve the essence of the problem, and these are the prices (for gas),” said de Croo.

He acknowledged that the government, in such an extraordinary situation with gas prices, cannot help everyone, so it will focus on helping those most in need.