Energy bills must be significantly reduced for citizens and businesses. And energy in Europe must be greener and independent of Russia. These are the main goals of the plan for affordable energy, which Denmark's EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, will present in Brussels on Wednesday.
- The plan will reduce energy costs in industry and for ordinary households. As early as next year, we can save over 300 billion Danish kroner per year, says Dan Jørgensen.
He expects the savings to gradually triple towards 2030. According to the plan, the EU will thus be able to save a total of 1,000 billion DKK per year by 2030.
This should help not only citizens, but also European industries that are struggling with weak demand and higher energy costs than companies in the US and China. According to Dan Jørgensen, energy prices for European companies are two to three times as high as in the USA and China.
- It is of course clear that it will vary from sector to sector how much you will save depending on how energy intensive you are, says Dan Jørgensen.
There will also be different effects on the energy bills of citizens in Denmark and the other 26 EU countries. It depends on how quickly the countries are able to adapt their energy supply.
- But on average for a household in Europe, it will be somewhere between 2000 and 3000 kroner per year that you will be able to save, says Dan Jørgensen.
Closer electricity grid connection and faster permits
In the plan, the EU Commission proposes that the goal of lower energy prices should be achieved, among other things, by accelerating permits for renewable energy projects. The goal here is to get down to six months for a permit. At the same time, energy savings must limit the demand for oil and gas.
The electricity grids of the EU countries must be better interconnected to ensure cheap electricity where needed. In addition, the EU Commission wants to decouple electricity prices from gas prices. This has pushed electricity prices up in recent years, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to very high gas prices in the EU.
Question: A large part of energy prices is due to taxes. Would you like to encourage the Danish government and the governments of the other EU countries to reduce taxes?
- It is quite clear that the tax bill is one of the major expense items on the electricity bill for both industry and households throughout Europe. The opportunity is used to get extra money into the treasury when an energy bill is sent out. The money may go to cover expenses that have nothing to do with the electricity bill. It is a clear signal from the EU Commission that one should look at the tariffs if one wants to be competitive, says Dan Jørgensen.
The plan also proposes to buy gas from new suppliers. This is to slow down the EU countries' continued purchases from Russia.
- Since Putin entered Ukraine, we, from the European side, have spent an amount on Russian energy that corresponds to the purchase of 2,400 new F-35 fighter jets. This is of course 100 percent unsustainable. Therefore, we must move away from it for security policy reasons alone, says Dan Jørgensen.
/ritzau/
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