The Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, during his address at the EU Energy Ministers Council taking place in Brussels, emphasized the necessity to immediately proceed with a unified European energy market. Speaking on the first item of the agenda regarding networks, Mr. Papastavrou stressed that during periods of crisis, like the one we are experiencing, we seek a common response to challenges: “Together united, we can respond more dynamically to an evolving crisis. And let me say something. There is an ‘elephant in the room.’ This concerns the inequalities in wholesale electricity prices.”
Papastavrou: “Europe must send a clear message of support for the Vertical Corridor”
The Minister reminded that two years ago Greece was among the Southeast European countries that had prices double those of the rest of Europe: “There was a wall of electricity prices. And this separated us. And this was much more than an economic issue. It questioned the cohesion and solidarity of the European project,” he stated and added: “Greece, in the first ten days of March 2026, has the sixth lowest wholesale electricity price. But this does not mean we have forgotten the challenge we faced two years ago. Even more now, we must react.”
Mr. Papastavrou also pointed out that “when some speak about the central scenario of a common EU strategy, this is not something that will be imposed by the Commission. It will emerge from co-creation by all member states. We must coordinate.” Additionally, he said that “the EU has always advanced and taken the necessary step during periods of crisis, if one looks at its history. And now is the time to move faster and further. I understand countries’ concerns. And we must find a flexible way,” he characteristically stated.
Greece – in the discussion that followed – strongly supported the need for Europe to have ready targeted measures and flexibilities for protecting citizens and businesses, in case the crisis continues or intensifies. At the same time, measures that had been adopted during the 2022 energy crisis were examined and analyzed, in order to be presented to the European Council on Thursday, March 19.
Subsequently, Mr. Papastavrou participated in a closed discussion on “promoting mutual energy security,” in the presence of Ukraine’s Energy Minister, Mr. Denys Shmyhal, and Moldova’s Energy Minister, Mr. Dorin Junghietu, where he focused on the added value that the Vertical Corridor brings to the continent’s energy autonomy.
“However,” he emphasized, “Europe must definitively dissolve the regulatory uncertainty surrounding this project, by promoting the revision of the regulatory framework and related codes. It must send a clear message of support for the Vertical Corridor, and a clear message to the market that it remains unwavering in its goal of independence from Russian natural gas that it has set.”
