Regional Commissioner Elisa Ferreira on short-term aid to combat the energy crisis, the constant accusation that the Commission is working past people’s needs, and the dispute with the Orbán government.
Die Presse: Fighting the energy crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time – and it also affects cohesion policy. Just one example: people in rural, poorly developed regions are more affected by the high fuel prices than those who live in urban areas.
Cohesion policy primarily attempts to solve structural, i.e. long-term, problems. In a crisis, however, we also take short-term measures. In this specific case, of course, we cannot pay the citizens to fill up their tanks, but we can invest in the future viability and rapid expansion of public transport.
Small and medium-sized companies have big problems because of the increased energy costs and are stopping investments. This has a negative impact on the business location in the long term.
We are trying to shield Europe from Russian aggression, which has weaponized energy, as best we can. Just last week, the Commission submitted a proposal to the Member States to use unused cohesion funds from the 2021-27 budget in the fight against the crisis: to support SMEs, to save tens of thousands of jobs and for households that can no longer pay their electricity bills or fill their tanks can pay. However, the Commission cannot solve the problem alone.