Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 10, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 10, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleCentral European leaders urge the EU to cut electricity prices to boost industry competitiveness, focusing on carbon allowance costs and natural gas prices.
Feb 10 (Reuters) - The European Union must act to cut electricity prices to safeguard the competitiveness of its industry, the prime ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia said on Tuesday ahead of a summit on strengthening the bloc's economy.
EU leaders will meet for an informal summit at a Belgian castle on Thursday to discuss ways to compete with global rivals such as China and the U.S.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia have pushed for policies to lower energy prices to support their industry-heavy economies, and have been particularly critical of the cost of allowances that companies receive, or must buy, to cover their carbon output under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
"If there is nothing else but one informal conclusion on Thursday, that we will lower electricity prices, I will consider this summit a great success," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told a news conference after talks with his Austrian and Czech counterparts in Bratislava.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said natural gas prices were the key driver of power costs and should be addressed.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has been lobbying other governments to support capping the price of carbon allowances under the current ETS1 scheme and delaying the ETS2 scheme, which will extend costs to household heating and motor fuels.
An internal document seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed the EU is considering a different overhaul of the system of free CO2 permits for industries to align it with the bloc's 2040 emissions-reduction target.
The European Commission presentation shows Brussels is weighing three options to revamp the current ETS system of giving industries some free CO2 permits. That system reduces their overall pollution costs and helps them compete with foreign firms that do not pay for their emissions.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will press at the summit for a coordinated EU strategy to support businesses, attract investment and strengthen the single market.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague. Editing by Mark Potter)
Electricity pricing refers to the cost consumers pay for electricity usage, which can be influenced by various factors including supply and demand, production costs, and regulatory policies.
The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing emissions of pollutants.
Carbon allowances are permits that allow companies to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Companies can buy or sell these allowances as part of emissions trading.
Industry competitiveness refers to the ability of a company or industry to produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while maintaining or expanding its market share.
A carbon cap is a limit set on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by all participating entities in a cap-and-trade system.
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