Europe does not find any agreement on gas and price cap to give a common answer to the dear energy , Germany decides to tackle the problem independently, effectively putting itself in competition with the other members of the Union. A choice that aroused the anger of Italy: “La energy crisis - commented Mario Draghi – calls for a response from Europe that will make it possible to reduce costs for households and businesses, to limit the exceptional gains made by producers and importers, to avoid dangerous and unjustified distortions of the internal market and to keep Europe united once again in the face of an emergency. Faced with the common threats of our times, we cannot divide ourselves according to the space in our national budgets. In the forthcoming European Councils we must show ourselves united, determined, in solidarity – just as we have been in supporting Ukraine”.
Gas and price cap: what Germany has decided
Il German Government decided to finance the reduction of electricity billsand reactivating your own 200 billion euro economic equalization fund. Basically, the Germany will fix by itself a price cap and all costs that go beyond the threshold will be paid by the State through the Fund. In European terms, such a response to the energy crisisa means only one thing: those who have their accounts in order can afford to help families and businesses pay their bills, because they have room to make new debt; countries that instead have more problematic finances, such as Italy, remain abandoned to speculation on the energy market. With a corollary: in this way Berlin benefits its companies on international markets, inflicting a severe blow on the competition. Another demonstration of how national interests tend to prevail over European solidarity: as at the dawn of Covid, when Germany did everything to grab as many vaccines as possible by itself.
Lack of agreement in Europe
Faced with a similar project by the first continental economy, it is clear that the summit of European energy ministers scheduled for today is doomed to failure. There is no agreement on anything, starting with the general price cap, which evidently the Germans consider less convenient than the national one. So any discussion will be postponed at least to next week's European Council in Prague. By now, however, the rift between Northern and Southern Europe is increasingly evident: 15 countries - starting with Italy and France - are asking for the introduction of a common ceiling on the price of gas and they don't hide their irritation at Germany's move. Draghi's words prove it.
Price cap: the proposal of the European Commission
In this picture, the European Commission moves looking for a difficult mediation. The idea of a generalized price cap is rejected as "risky and unenforceable". And so the community executive proposes to introduce a ceiling on Russian gas only – which, however, is now almost never bought by EU countries – e a limit on the cost of bills (effectively imitating the German provision). The second measure would be possible only through the decoupling between the prices of natural gas and those of electricity and the individual countries, unlike Germany, would have to finance it with a tax on extra profits of energy companies. But everything would be managed at the national level: the tax it would not be European and the same for everyone. At most, there would be a derogation from the rules on state aid. Result: the countries with more budget space, which certainly does not include Italy, will be able to help families and businesses more than the others. Nothing to do with the requests of the 15 countries that signed the letter in favor of the price cap and that would like to create a sort of new "Recovery fund" for energy. This solution is not convenient for the other 12 EU countries, and therefore I do not agree.
Meloni is with Draghi and is thinking of a new 25 million Aid Quater decree
At the moment, therefore, the responses to the energy crisis can only be national. Yesterday's news that from October in Italy the price of electricity bills will rise by 59%. The future prime minister Giorgia Meloni marry the line of Draghi (work for a European solution, buffering what is possible at home) and disavows the ally Salvini, who instead praises the autarchy of Germany and insists on a maxi-budget gap.
However, the road that Meloni seems to want to follow is that of a Aid quater decree of 25 billion to support the economy. The list of measures to be renewed includes at least three items: i tax credits for energy-intensive companies must be extended for the month of December (cost: 4,7 billion); extend the 30,5 cent denomination of excise duties on gasoline, which expires on October 17, would cost 900 million a month; then think of one reissue of the 150 euro bonus for pensioners, workers and the self-employed up to 20 euros of income.
Meloni also thinks about new aid to help families and businesses in debt due to bills. The possible measures on this front are different: moratorium on mortgages and debts; renegotiation and restructuring of the sums due, with dilution of the payment times; enhancement of installment of bills; public guarantee measures provided by the Fund for SMEs and by Sace, already extended by the Draghi government until December, are even more extensive.
I 25 billion needed for all this they would come from several sources: 10 from the smallest deficit this year; another 10 could as possible extra tax revenue (driven by inflation) in the last part of the year; one billion advances from the Aiuti ter decree, from the tax on the extra profits of renewable companies; finally, at least another 5 billion out of 8 from the balance of the tax on the extra profits of energy companies should arrive by November (even if an appeal by some of them is pending on which the Tar will rule on November 8 and Meloni herself wants to change the norm) . All money that can be used without making another deficit.
