Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece with joint proposals to contain energy prices

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa met with the Heads of Government of Italy, Mário Draghi, Spain, Pedro Sanchez, and Greece, Kiriakos Mitsotakis, in Roma, to set up a joint proposal for measures to contain rising energy prices, to be presented to the European Council on 24 and 25 March. 

António Costa claimed that the four countries want "concrete decisions [to be taken] that are immediately enforced and meet the needs of households and families so that social cohesion and the recovery efforts under way are not jeopardised" at the  upcoming EU Heads of State and Government meeting.

The Prime Minister stated that "only a strong Europe will have the strength to continue supporting Ukraine, only a strong Europe will have the capacity to bolster its investment in security and defence to guarantee peace. To do this, we must respond to the energy issue in the short term". 

"For this to be possible, the key issue is to control the price of gas and stop the contamination of electricity prices due to the staggering rise in gas prices", he said, adding that working groups from the four Governments were undertaking technical assignments and "today, we found a point of mutual understanding on the best way to create unity among the 27 member states with the European Commission’s backing".

The Prime Minister also said that the Ministers charged with energy in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece were tasked with "continuing this work throughout this week", and the "diplomatic efforts with our colleagues" from other EU countries is also to continue.

Example of the pandemic

At the final press conference for the Rome meeting, which the Greek Prime Minister attended via video conference, as he has Covid-19, António Costa noted that the pandemic "was a good example of how Europe can respond to global crises together". 

"We were able to act by jointly procuring vaccines, we were able to act with economic stabilisation measures that allowed us to overcome this crisis much faster than the previous one, where all European countries are growing and with unemployment rates lower than the ones before. And we were also able to respond in a strategic way with the NextGenenrationEU  programme that seeks to respond to the major digital and climate transition challenges", he recalled.

Unified response

The Prime Minister claimed that "this spirit of unity has also set the way in which Europe has responded to the war triggered by Russia with the invasion of Ukraine", indicating "the sanctions against Russia", "the various means of supporting Ukraine", and "solidarity with the millions of Ukrainians who seek international protection". 

Now, "we must also respond jointly to the economic and social consequences of this war" and, "to do so, we have the central matter of energy".

If, on the one hand, there is "a strategic dimension of developing renewables and the interconnections, of diversifying the energy sources and routes", which is included in the NextGenerationEU, "we must also have a short-term response" he said, thanking the Chairman of the Council of Minsiters of Italy, Mario Draghi, for hosting the meeting between the four countries in Rome.