It could be late in Brussels tonight. If they come out at all. Heads of government and heads of state of the 27 EU countries are discussing the European Commission’s proposals for overcoming the energy crisis today and tomorrow.

Countries are expected to come up with better arrangements to help each other in the event of actual energy shortages. They had previously promised that, but according to the European Commission, the governing countries are not delivering on that promise. They will likely agree on such a mandatory safety net.

This also applies to the joint purchase of gas. They want to prevent countries from continuing to bid against each other when purchasing gas. This is what happened last summer, when everyone was trying to replenish gas supplies as quickly as possible. This made gas even more expensive than it already was.

So much for the proposals in which the EU leaders still find common ground to some extent. As for the rest, they completely disagree. Like borrowing money together to ease the pain. And the most controversial remains the “price cap” for gas.

A group of fifteen countries has been calling for such a maximum price for months. The rest, especially the Netherlands and Germany, don’t like it at all. These countries are afraid that producers will sell their gas outside of Europe if it doesn’t make enough here. Prime Minister Rutte keeps saying that we must prevent LNG ships from sailing to Asia instead of to the EU. And that’s to prevent more gas being used when it’s cheaper, which in turn leads to greater shortages.

bottlenecks in winter

The European Union has already taken emergency measures in recent months. For example, the countries have jointly reached agreements on saving gas and electricity. And they also decided to siphon off profits from energy companies. Countries can use the money this generates to lower energy bills.

So far, the measures have mainly focused on the coming winter. You need to ensure that there are no bottlenecks and alleviate some of the pain of high energy bills. But everyone assumes that the energy crisis will continue. And next winter it will be even harder to replenish supplies. Especially when no more gas comes from Russia.

“Week of Truth”

Although it has been stressed how united the EU states are, the differences of opinion between the member states are now being played out openly. The European Commission’s proposals, which the countries are now examining, do not go far enough for many countries. For example, Spain’s energy minister said that “these proposals show that we are not acting at the required speed”.

In the run-up to the summit, Belgian Prime Minister De Croo spoke of the “week of truth” for the European Union. Hungary’s Prime Minister Orbán even predicted “a huge” debate on Twitter this week. Top diplomats have praised the committee’s commitment and diligence but warn it may be weeks or months before detailed plans are agreed.

Ultimately, it is all about differences of opinion about how difficult it is to intervene in the energy market. This is a fundamental difference that has been unbridgeable for ages. It therefore seems unlikely that the EU heads of state and government will find a compromise on this point in the coming days.

If all goes according to plan, leaders can return home tomorrow after a long night of meetings. But it is even rumored that they may have to stay an extra night in Brussels and only leave on Saturday.