European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen urged European Union countries to prepare for prolonged fuel supply issues and to coordinate their relief measures.
“The European Union’s security of supply remains guaranteed. But we must be ready for a potentially prolonged disruption of international energy trade,” Jørgensen said on Tuesday, ahead of a virtual meeting of EU energy ministers.
“This is why we need to act already now. And we need to act together,” he said. “It is only by working together that we can be stronger and we can protect our citizens and businesses more effectively.”
Capitals are called upon to “to make timely and coordinated preparations to secure the supply of oil and refined petroleum products,” the commission said in a statement.
In a letter sent to EU energy ministers, Jørgensen told capitals to also consider measures to reduce the demand for oil.
In addition, capitals “should refrain from taking measures that may increase fuel consumption, limit the free flow of petroleum products or disincentivize EU refinery output,” according to the commission.
The surge in oil prices triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran has led to a sharp increase of inflation in the eurozone.
Year-on-year, consumer prices rose by 2.5% in March, according to a preliminary estimate released by the statistics office Eurostat in Luxembourg on Tuesday. In February, the inflation rate stood at 1.9%.