Greece is urging the European Union to take faster action to address rising electricity and natural gas prices, which are harming both the country’s economy and its households. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized the issue in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.
In November, European wholesale electricity prices reached their highest level in 20 months. This surge has put additional pressure on key industries in major European economies, many of which were only beginning to recover from the 2022 energy crisis.
Western European countries, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, have also faced significant increases in energy prices. However, countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, like Greece, have been hit even harder, with energy prices remaining higher than in the west in recent months.
Greece, along with Bulgaria and Romania, has already urged the EU to explore measures to ease these high prices.
In a separate letter sent to von der Leyen in May 2024, Mitsotakis called for reforms to make the EU’s Single Market more competitive and transparent for consumers, aiming to improve citizens’ living standards across the bloc.
More recently, Mitsotakis reiterated the need for urgency in his letter, writing, “Prices are telling us we need to move faster but also differently — to think about new ways to tackle the problems that confront us.”
The Greek leader is advocating for greater integration of national power grids and additional steps to secure natural gas supplies for Southeastern Europe and the EU as a whole. He also proposes setting limits on the costs associated with regulating emissions.
Mitsotakis highlighted that recent changes in the geopolitical landscape make it even more urgent to address these issues. He noted that while the EU plans to reduce its reliance on natural gas, “we will depend on gas for at least two decades.”
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