Meaningful reform in the European Union has historically taken a crisis, and this winter seems ripe for energy policy. As with the euro crisis a decade ago, though, a quick political compromise could risk leaving the job half done.
The EU’s energy ministers are holding an emergency meeting Friday to agree on ways to calm the storm of gas shortages, nuclear outages and drought hitting European energy markets. The benchmark price for the region’s swing fuel—liquefied natural gas—has fallen this month in response to proposals for coordinated action, but remains almost four times its level a year ago and eight times the U.S. equivalent. This and the knock-on impact on power prices are prompting businesses to shutter production and citizens to protest in the street.
