C 349/16
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
29.9.2023
4.3.
As well as the direct and indirect impact on businesses’ GVA (margins), greater financial vulnerability also has an impact.
The Bank of Spain report identifies the sectors that are hardest hit.
One group of sectors would be particularly vulnerable; not only would they have excessive debt, but they would also have negative profitability in 2023: motor vehicle trade and repair; land and pipeline transport; fishing and aquaculture; agriculture and livestock farming; and textiles, clothing, leather and footwear.
4.4.
As the accumulated stocks of natural gas in Europe decrease — the volume being stored in May 2023 was 68 % (13) — we will face additional challenges in managing our energy policy.
There is still a difference between the quantities previously supplied from Russia and those from alternative suppliers and, therefore, prices are unlikely to drop in the short term.
What has happened is a significant reduction in demand.
The high energy prices are making our industry and our supply chains less competitive, in turn encouraging operations to be outsourced outside the EU, thus reducing the bloc’s strategic independence.
The impact on households, in particular the most vulnerable, is particularly significant, with a growing proportion of people at risk of or living in poverty.
This will be the case until at least 2024 (14).
In order to combat these issues, the EESC recommends a number of measures including location guarantees linked to financial support, further necessary energy saving and energy efficiency measures for companies to reduce demand, massive investments and the necessary fiscal framework conditions in the expansion of renewable energy production to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
4.5.
Consequently, due to the rocketing energy costs, the viability of many businesses and households is increasingly coming under threat.
Although the winter was relatively warm, we cannot expect the environmental conditions to always be favourable to us.
For this reason, measures must be taken to protect particularly vulnerable households, with specific measures being adopted for them in this area.
4.6.
For businesses, the huge increases in business costs, combined with consumer reluctance to spend, may even lead to mandatory relocation in some cases.
However, this is not possible for companies which provide an essential service to customers and the rest of the supply chain, who cannot simply stop their operations due to energy price increases.
4.7.
While a large number of sectors and their workers were considered essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, this recognition is notably absent in the current energy crisis.
So far, Member States have not provided specific support to many of these sectors.
Businesses in these sectors and their workers have made an effort to protect consumers at the expense of their own margins and it is hard for them to pass on to customers the total cost of the exorbitant increase in energy bills.
This situation cannot be maintained in the long term.
Similarly, the EESC believes that governments are not protecting people to the same extent as they were during the pandemic.
4.8.
Many businesses are making a number of investments to reduce energy consumption and improve their capacity to access more renewable energy.
The EESC believes that companies can also act as accelerators in the electrification of transport and can replace gas in heating, thereby playing a key role in the energy transition and in the EU’s renewable energy targets for 2030.
However, this will require a favourable regulatory framework, such as granting permits and combating price disincentives for producing more energy.
4.9.
The EESC stresses the importance of aligning the REPowerEU and energy performance of buildings obligations with support and with operators’ capacity to bear the cost of the considerable investments they entail.
These measures will be important in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, but the obligations must be linked to the availability of both public and private funding.
The Commission’s long-term agenda should include revamping the energy market in order to avoid future disruption of energy supply and exorbitant prices.
This revamp should consider training for the workforce that will be involved in the sector.
(13) (14)
Information available at: https://agsi.gie.eu/data-overview/eu.
EIU (2023): Energy crisis will erode Europe’s competitiveness in 2023, available at: https://www.eiu.com/n/energy-crisis-will-erodeeurope-competitiveness-in-2023/.