When asked, Frieden did not specify when or at what price the government would take action, but instead said: “We will act when the prices for residents and businesses in Luxembourg undergo a significant increase. At the moment that is not the case as many of these contracts were negotiated for a period of several years.”
The Prime Minister also emphasised that the government has already helped with network costs as a preventative measure. “We hope this war will not drag on, so global prices will stabilise,” he added.
The main topics at the Brussels summit on Thursday were the US-Israel war with Iran, and the energy crisis, although the war in Ukraine also took some discussion time. The EU has already pledged a 90-billion euro loan to Ukraine over two years, but as Hungary has blocked the decision once again, all 27 member states must argue the topic with the Hungarian premier Viktor Orban once more on Thursday.
Elections take place on 12 April in Hungary, where it is not yet known what would happen if Orban’s main rival Peter Magyar takes power. Ukraine and the EU cannot wait for the elections though, so the EU Commission tried to convince Orban to agree to the support measures on Tuesday, announcing the inspection of a pipeline in Ukraine. Orban has accused Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of knowingly pushing Hungary’s energy prices up in order to manipulate the vote.
Luc Frieden said he was confident a solution would be found. But on Thursday morning, Orban categorically announced that if Ukraine did not supply oil to Hungary, then Hungary would refuse to help. In comparison to Frieden, the EU’s head diplomat Kaja Kallas said she was “not very optimistic” but hoped that council president Antonio Costa would succeed to find a solution through his intensive work with Orban.
Frieden said the situation in the Middle East must be de-escalated through diplomacy, stressing that it is never too late for a political solution.
On European financial policy, he struck a more optimistic tone regarding supervision under the European Savings and Investment Union. Luxembourg, alongside several other EU countries, is pushing back against centralised European oversight, arguing that supervision should remain at national level. Frieden said he is relying on Finance Minister Gilles Roth to take the issue forward in upcoming discussions.
Among other takeaways, Luxembourg remains aligned with other member states in opposing any return of Russian energy imports into the EU.
