The countries of the European Union failed to agree on a common reaction to the rise in energy prices at yesterday's extraordinary meeting of relevant ministers, and some member states demanded a reform of the regulations while others firmly opposed it.
Gas prices in Europe hit a record high this fall and are still extremely high, prompting most EU countries to respond with emergency measures such as capping price increases and subsidies to help reduce consumer bills.
But countries are trying to agree on a longer-term plan to protect themselves from fluctuating fossil fuel prices, which Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Greece say requires major reform of the way EU energy markets work.
"There is no agreed position on whether interventionist measures should be adopted at the EU level and applied in all member states," Slovenian Minister for Infrastructure Jernej Vrtovec, whose country holds the EU presidency, said after the meeting.
Yesterday, Spain advocated for EU countries to buy gas together and proposed that individual countries be allowed to leave the current EU electricity pricing system.
Those proposals have met with resistance from other countries, which believe that EU energy laws should not be changed in response to what they claim is a short-term spike in prices.
Nine countries, including Germany - Europe's largest economy and electricity market - issued a joint statement ahead of yesterday's meeting saying they would not support EU electricity market reform.
"It will not be a solution to mitigate the current rise in energy prices linked to the fossil fuel market," those countries said in a statement.
The European Commission is analyzing the design of the European electricity market and collecting data on the behavior of gas suppliers after some countries accused Russia's Gazprom of manipulating the market to raise prices.
The spokesperson of the commission announced that Brussels sent the questionnaires "with the intention of determining whether the current situation on the gas markets in Europe is the result of the commercial behavior of market participants."
The Commission will also determine the pros and cons of joint gas purchases at EU level.
"Many topics need to be considered - who will pay the costs of gas procurement and storage, how the gas will be transported from different regions", said the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson.
Simson added that she is in contact with the authorities in the United States, Norway and Qatar regarding the current gas shortage in order to provide additional quantities. She did not mention Russia.
On Monday, the US senior advisor for global energy security, Amos Hostein, said that the US government does not interfere in the operations of companies and that only Russia can help Europe.
Claude Turmes, Luxembourg's energy minister, said that Spain "is too optimistic when it claims that joint procurement would solve the crisis".
Less than seven days before the COP26 international climate change summit, rising energy prices have sparked tensions among EU members as they prepare to negotiate a raft of new policies to tackle climate change, including higher tax rates on polluting fuels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban last Sunday dismissed the plans as a "utopian fantasy", contradicting the views of other countries who argue that higher fossil fuel prices should prompt a faster transition to locally produced, low-emissions renewable energy.
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