European Commission Mulls Compensating Consumers Over Hike in Energy Prices

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Most vulnerable European households, affected by rocketing natural-gas prices, may be provided with a compensation to alleviate their burden, European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant announced on Wednesday.

"First of all we will be looking at compensation can be provided under existing rules at the national level to the most vulnerable households, because the first priority at this stage is clearly to reduce the burden on people who need to pay a much higher price for electricity then they were only a few months ago," Spinant said.

Earlier in the day, the Commission announced that next week it will compile a list of medium and long-term measures to respond to energy crisis that member states can adopt, including targeted support to consumers.

The European Union has seen a spike in natural gas prices over the past few months, driven by growing energy demand amid an economic recovery from months of lockdowns, and a limited supply. On Wednesday, the price of gas futures in Europe broke a new record, exceeding $1,900 per 1,000 cubic meters.