Airlines already canceled summer flights – The situation in winter can be even tougher

Commissioner responsible for energy affairs of the European Union Dan Jorgensen does not see a significant threat of a supply shortage of aviation fuel due to the crisis in the Middle East during the summer.

“Of course, we have already seen airlines canceling routes and raising prices. It is of course a direct consequence of the supply shortage caused by the (Middle East) situation,” Danish Jørgensen, who visited Finland on Thursday, told the media.

According to Jørgensen, as winter approaches, the situation may be more serious if the Middle East crisis, which has been going on for four months now, is not resolved.

Jørgensen says that the EU Commission monitors how much aviation fuel is available in the EU region and which countries have it.

“We have warned the ministers that joint solutions may have to be discussed if this creates a real security of supply crisis.”

So far, according to him, the situation has not escalated to the point of a security of supply crisis.

A decrease of 600 million euros

According to Jørgensen, the EU pays a 600 million euro overprice for imported energy every day because of the crisis in the Middle East.

“This shows how vulnerable we are because we are dependent on fossil fuels.”

Even if the situation in the Middle East is resolved soon, Jørgensen warns that the effects will be visible for a long time.

“It will take a few years for gas and months for oil before the situation normalizes.”

Several gas and oil production facilities have been the target of attacks in the Persian Gulf region.

Electricity tax down

The commissioner is now urging EU countries to electrify society and industry in order to reduce dependence on imported fossil energy.

“We have made recommendations to the member states. One of them is to reduce electricity taxes, if possible. Many countries still have high electricity taxes, which is harmful in this situation.”

In Finland, the industrial electricity tax is at the EU’s minimum level, but for example, households pay an electricity tax of 2.253 cents per kilowatt hour, while the minimum level set by the EU is 0.1 cents.

According to Jørgensen, a new electrification target and plan is coming from the commission within a few weeks. According to the commissioner, the package takes into account the electrification of both traffic and heating.

“We are also looking at industry, because electrification in industry has slowed down to a significant extent in the EU.”