Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has accused some supplying states of natural gas of excessive prices. "Some countries, including friendly ones, sometimes achieve moon prices. Of course, that brings with it problems that we have to talk about," Habeck told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". He is counting on the EU Commission to talk about this with the friendly states.

The Green politician mentioned the United States in this context. "The United States turned to us when oil prices skyrocketed, and national oil reserves were then tapped in Europe. I think such solidarity would also be good for curbing gas prices," Habeck said, referring to the government in Washington.

According to the minister, the EU should "bundle its market power and orchestrate smart and synchronized purchasing behavior by the EU states so that individual EU countries do not outbid each other and drive up world market prices". The European market power is "enormous" and only has to be used.