By Marine Strauss
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned a cap on electricity prices called for by the opposition could lead to power being sold in other markets and blackouts in Belgium.
Its government has been pushing for a Europe-wide cap on electricity prices since March, but so far a common approach to tackle soaring energy costs has eluded the continent.
“If we capped the price of electricity in Belgium, electricity would be sold in neighbouring countries where prices would not be at the same level,” De Croo told public broadcaster RTBF” late on Thursday. “There is a risk of a blackout because the electricity would be sold elsewhere.”
The geographical position of Belgium, a nation of 11 million, also has to be taken into account because of its interconnectedness with its neighbours.
“In Spain, for example, from an energy point of view, the country is more or less an island there, it is feasible to cap electricity prices,” De Croo said.
The federal government earlier announced cuts to public buildings’ power consumption and a tax on the profits of energy companies such as Engie and TotalEnergies.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said earlier this year Belgium had the highest energy inflation in the bloc and that the government in Brussels had merely tinkered with taxes and tariffs to alleviate consumer pain.
European Union leaders are set to meet on Oct. 20-21, days after the European Commission intends to propose measures to tackle an energy crisis that is driving inflation and damaging economies across the bloc.
A draft of their meeting conclusions, seen by Reuters, said EU leaders would agree to “develop a new benchmark that more accurately reflects conditions on the gas market.”
(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
