EU energy ministers, including Croatian Minister Davor Filipovic, on Wednesday had an informal meeting in Prague and exchanged their views on preparedness for the coming winter and the need for a review of the electricity market, the Ministry of the Economy and Sustainable Development said.

The ministers first exchanged opinions on a plan for further action of the European Commission to resolve the issue of rising energy prices.

Minister Filipovic said that Croatia considered that capping prices for all wholesale transactions of natural gas was the most important measure that would help citizens and entrepreneurs, and he called for the establishment and operationalisation of a joint EU platform for purchasing gas, the Ministry said in the press release.

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol presented the potential of hydrogen within the framework of the energy transition and the current geopolitical situation.

With regard to that transformation of the energy system and the entire European economy, new alternative fuels are being sought to decarbonise the industry and freight transport, which will contribute to achieving carbon neutrality in the European Union by 2050. One of the tools for the decarbonisation of these sectors is low-emissions renewable hydrogen.

During a working lunch, which was also attended by the contracting parties of the Energy Community and Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski, the ministers exchanged information on the preparedness in the energy sector ahead of the winter. This is a topical issue in the context of the war in Ukraine, the reduction in the supply of Russian gas to Europe, and rising gas prices, the press release said.

The final discussion at the meeting focused on a possible reform of the electricity market. After opening speeches by Director of the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators Christian Zinglersen and European Investment Bank Vice-President Thomas Östros, the ministers presented their views on the reform which the European Commission announced could be a long-term solution for separating gas and electricity prices, the press release said.