E.U. chief Ursula von der Leyen outlined a plan Wednesday to push ahead with emergency measures to tackle the energy crisis. “Russia keeps actively manipulating our energy market,” she said. “This market is not functioning anymore.”
BRUSSELS — The European Commission will push ahead with emergency measures to tackle the energy crisis, including a windfall tax on some energy companies and binding targets to reduce energy consumption during peak hours, a sign of growing concern that the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine is pushing the region toward recession.
“Russia keeps actively manipulating our energy market,” von der Leyen told members of European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg, France. “This market is not functioning anymore.”The annual speech comes more than six months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, upending Europe’s post-Cold War security architecture and its energy strategy.
In recent weeks, E.U. officials have held urgent meetings on measures to control the price of electricity and stabilize power markets, with the commission floating a range of ideas that would have once been considered extreme. The European Central Bank last week for the second time this year in a bid to cool off inflation without pushing the economy over the edge.