BRUSSELS — The European Union will this month release a proposal to ease state aid rules as part of a suite of measures to help member countries deal with the energy crisis caused by the Iran war, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.
It follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration Sunday that the U.S. would blockade the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks with Iran collapsed over the weekend.
EU governments have been clamoring for changes to state aid rules as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for a fifth of global energy trade has sent energy prices soaring and threatened supply issues. Since the war began, the war has added €22 billion to the EU’s energy bill, von der Leyen said.
The Commission will consult member countries on state aid changes this week, she said.
Other measures the Commission is planning include a “toolkit,” to be released April 22, that will contain plans for gas storage filling and guidelines for temporary measures to reduce taxes on energy bills and reduce demand, von der Leyen said following a meeting of Commission officials. Demand-reduction schemes might revolve around building renovation and the renewal of industrial equipment, she said.
Von der Leyen also urged lawmakers and member countries to conclude their work on the EU grids package — a plan to upgrade and expand Europe’s electricity network — by the beginning of the summer, saying electrification of the economy was the long-term solution to soaring oil and gas costs.
The Commission is also working on a legislative proposal on changes to electricity taxes and grids charges which would be presented in May, and will adopt an EU-wide electrification target before the summer to reduce fossil fuel dependence, she said.
The Commission will also imminently release updated benchmarks for the ETS — the bloc’s cap and trade framework that has become a political lightning rod of late — dictating how many free carbon allowances industrial sectors will receive, Von der Leyen added.
She reiterated the planned review of the ETS was still on schedule for release in July.
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