The EP calls for the introduction of a price ceiling for piped natural gas – news from Debrecen, news from Debrecen | Debrecen and Hajdú-Bihar county news
The EP calls for the introduction of a price ceiling for piped natural gas
Strasbourg – Consumers must be prevented from paying disproportionately high amounts for gas and electricity.
The European Parliament is waiting for a proposal from the European Commission for an appropriate price ceiling for natural gas imported via the pipeline, primarily from Russia, and is calling for an update of the common EU gas procurement rules in order to reduce the price of imported gas, the previous parliament announced on Wednesday.
In the resolution adopted at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the MEPs stated that those consumers who cannot pay the network energy bills will not be connected to the energy service, they could not pay the bills and the sublet, and the eviction of needy households. should also be avoided.
Consumers should be better protected against the suspension or cancellation of fixed-price contracts and should be prevented from paying disproportionately high amounts for gas and electricity, they wrote. They added: in these cases, instead of divisive, unilateral actions, unprecedented solidarity and a common response are needed.
The adopted document also stipulates that energy industry companies benefiting from unexpected profits due to increased energy prices due to the Russian war in Ukraine must contribute to mitigating the negative effects of the crisis. The EP welcomed the Council agreement, which establishes a temporary emergency ceiling on the revenues of companies to use inframarginal, i.e. lower-cost, technologies to produce electricity.
The EP asked the European Commission to assess what the appropriate profit rate could be and to take further steps to tax the windfall profits of companies making large profits during the energy crisis.
Finally, in the resolution of the European Parliament
reiterated his call for an immediate and complete embargo on Russian oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas imports and a complete shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
In a statement delivered to MTI, the European Parliament group of Fidesz wrote: the Hungarian dollar left has once again sided with Brussels’ energy sanctions.
The statement quoted András Gyürk, a member of the European Parliament (EP) of Fidesz, who wrote in connection with the vote: the Hungarian left agrees with the previous Brussels sanctions and even demands new punitive measures.
“It has been proven once again: Hungarian people and businesses struggling with the energy crisis caused by sanctions can only count on the Fidesz-KDNP,” he stated.
He stated: “the body with a left-liberal majority includes, among other things, a new sanction that demands the introduction of a significant price cap for natural gas produced immediately on the pipeline, and also calls for an embargo on imported Russian energy. If it were up to them, they would make Hungary’s energy supply impossible and multiply the burdens of Hungarian businesses – he underlined.
András Gyürk added, “We will not give in to political pressure that is against Hungarian interests. The time for harmful sanctions is over, now we need to help families and businesses.”
István Ujhelyi, a member of the EP’s social democratic group, informed MTI in his statement that he supported the resolution because, among other things, he stated that Russia’s war is a direct attack on European values. He also voted that the EP calls on them: not to exclude from the energy service and not evict from their homes those who cannot pay their increased bill debt. According to his statement, he abstained from voting on the energy-related paragraphs in the resolution. “I continue to maintain my position that only such restrictions can be accepted in the field of energy, the negative effects of which Hungary is already prepared to prevent,” he wrote. If Fidesz had used EU funds for real purposes and not for the enrichment of their own families in the past twelve years, then Hungary would be much more “crisis-resistant”. This is solely the fault and responsibility of Fidesz, its propaganda against sanctions is therefore endlessly cynical and false – added István Ujhelyi.
The European Parliament group of Fidesz announced in a statement sent to MTI:
the EP is demanding new energy sanctions in its decision planned to be adopted on Thursday.
In the current situation, the task of the European Parliament is to help the citizens and to make proposals aimed at solving the crisis, but the draft text submitted for voting on Thursday shows that the European Parliament is not willing to do so, declared the Fidesz MEPs. The left would introduce an EU gas price cap, which means another sanction, they wrote. Such a price restriction reduces the supply of natural gas, which is an “absurd idea” as the heating season approaches. The ill-considered step will only deepen the crisis and make European citizens pay the price of the war, they pointed out.
“We, the representatives of the European Parliament of Fidesz, protect the interests of the Hungarian people. That is why we will not support proposals that endanger Hungary’s energy supply and the jobs of the Hungarian people,” added the Fidesz European Parliament representative group.