European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday addressed high energy prices in the EU during a press conference in Brussels, responding to a letter by Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis last week.
Von der Leyen attributed the high energy costs to multiple factors, including climate change and poor interconnection within the EU, and with neighboring regions.
“There are, as [Mitsotakis] also mentioned, several factors that have an impact on the energy crisis. For example, the pressure of climate change on our energy systems and the question of better interconnection within the European Union and with our neighbors.
“Russian attacks on Ukraine play a role, but a minor one,” she said.
Von der Leyen noted that Europe faces structurally higher energy prices compared to other parts of the world. She emphasized that reducing these costs is a key objective for the new European Commission.
“A very clear goal of the new Commission, but also described in the Draghi report, is the structural reduction of energy prices,” she said.
To address this, she said, the Commission plans to focus on diversification, investments in renewable energy, reducing dependence on energy imports, and promoting energy savings.
“The more energy we have at home, renewable energy, the more independent we are and the lower the prices are without question,” she said.
