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The EU should respond to the surge in energy prices with joint action and not abandon its climate goals, says Danish MEP Morten Helveg Petersen.

Our interview with Morten Helveg Petersen (left) 

In a live interview on 12 October, Petersen, who is a member of the Renew Europe group and a vice-chair of Parliament’s energy committee, described the high energy bills that people and businesses are facing as “a serious crisis” that has arisen due to the EU’s over-dependency on imports from Russia.

“This is a wake-up call for all of us who have been dependent on cheap imports from Russia for decades. This is over, this has to stop. We have to become truly independent,” he said, adding that over-reliance on energy supplies from Russia has proved to be a mistake.

Petersen spoke of the difficult choices that EU countries need to make. “On the one hand, governments all over Europe want to help their citizens,” but this can lead to situations where subsidies at national level distort the single market and provide advantage for some at the expense of all others.

“This is one of the many complications that we have to address while ensuring that citizens are not freezing when they go to bed,” he warned while arguing for common solutions. “There are a lot of issues that cry for collective action. We are all in the same boat.”

Parliament adopted a resolution in early October, calling for emergency measures to tackle the rising energy prices, including a cap on imports of pipeline gas. In September, MEPs demanded that renewables should reach a share of 45% in the EU’s energy mix by 2030, from the current target of 32%.

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