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\u201cWe are in the middle of a very bad crisis right now,\u201d J\u00f8rgensen told Euronews on the sidelines of the presentation, announced alongside Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have to be quite blunt and say that we are looking into some very difficult months and even years, because even if there’s a peace tomorrow, to rebuild the gas infrastructure, for instance, in Qatar will take maybe years,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cPrices will not stabilise at the level they were before this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two months of turmoil in the Middle East have cost the continent an extra \u20ac24 billion in additional energy costs, totalling an eye-watering \u20ac5 million per day, according to European Commission data.<\/p>\n
To cushion the blow, the EU executive announced on Wednesday a package of initiatives aimed at supporting European citizens, businesses, and sectors.<\/p>\n
The European Commission is urging EU governments to provide energy vouchers, income support, and social tariffs to support vulnerable Europeans amid what has been dubbed the world\u2019s worst energy crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n The proposal did not include any initiatives mandating EU member states to encourage a one-day work-from-home policy or taxes on windfall profits \u2014 extraordinary profits earned by companies due to unexpected circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cThe windfall tax is certainly something that member states can choose to introduce at a national level, and if they choose that, we will also help facilitate and advise, drawing on some of the experiences, both the good ones and the bad ones, from 2022,\u201d J\u00f8rgensen said.<\/p>\n EU\u2019s \u20ac90 billion loan for Ukraine inches towards reality<\/p>\n