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European solutions to the rise of energy prices for businesses and consumers: the role of energy efficiency and renewable energy and the need to tackle energy poverty (debate)
Gas and electricity prices in Europe have increased several times in recent months. This is a transitional situation, but it highlights the fact that Europe is an energy poor continent in fossil fuels and that our energy dependence is enormous. This crisis cannot be dealt with well by individual Member States, but fortunately it does not have to be. At the time, the EU was set up to jointly address scarce resources such as energy. We need to encourage accelerating the transition to renewables. There is a need to jointly improve the possibilities of energy storage and the energy efficiency of buildings. Joint procurement is the best way to counter Russia’s energy diplomacy blackmail. At the same time, the problem of increasing energy poverty must be tackled immediately: neither the EU nor governments should allow Europe's poor to choose this winter whether to keep their families warm or put food on the table. For a family of four, this charge can increase the energy bill by up to HUF 20,000. There is therefore an urgent need for a temporary reduction in energy taxes across Europe. Resources should also be allocated in the next year's EU and national budgets to provide direct material aid to the most deprived, as well as to small businesses whose burden cannot be further increased. The amount of resources that can be allocated from the Social Climate Fund should also be increased. It is also necessary to prevent usurers from benefiting financially from the vulnerable situation of others.