EU leaders seek ways to keep energy prices affordable

BRUSSELS, Oct 22 (KUNA) -- European Union (EU) leaders Thursday night addressed the recent spike in energy prices and considered the impact of the price rises on citizens and businesses during the first day of their 2-day summit in Brussels.
In a statement released late Thursday, leaders of the 27-member bloc urged member states to urgently make the best use of measures available to them to provide short term relief to people and businesses suffering from increasing energy prices.
They called on the European Commission and the EU Council of Ministers to look into ways to help keep energy prices affordable in the long run.
On the coronavirus pandemic, EU leaders noted that vaccination campaigns around Europe have brought about significant progress in the fight against COVID-19.
Nevertheless, the situation in some EU member states remains very serious. They called for efforts to overcome vaccine hesitancy to be stepped up, including by tackling disinformation, notably on social media platforms.
The statement reiterated the EUآ’s continued commitment to contributing to the international response to the pandemic and to ensuring access to vaccines for all.
In the context of the upcoming G20 meeting and in view of the special session of the World Health Assembly in November, EU leaders underlined their support for a strong, central role of the World Health Organization in future global health governance and for the objective of agreeing an international treaty on pandemics.
The European Council held a strategic discussion on EU trade policy, it noted.
On external relations, they discussed the preparations for a number of upcoming international meetings such as the Asia-Europe Summit on 25-26 November, Eastern Partnership Summit which will be held on 15 December, the COP26 in Glasgow (Oct 31-12 November).
On Friday, EU leaders will meet again to talk about migration and the EUآ’s digital transformation. (end) nk.mt