Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has accused the USA and other friendly gas supplier states of "excessive" prices. "Some countries, including friendly ones, sometimes achieve moon prices," he told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". "Of course, that brings with it problems that we need to talk about." He is counting on "the EU Commission also talking about this with friendly states," said the Federal Minister.

Currently, Russian gas supplies are virtually zero because of the Ukraine war, so importers have to buy expensive alternatives elsewhere to keep their contracts. This puts them in financial difficulties themselves.

"The USA turned to us when oil prices skyrocketed, and national oil reserves in Europe were then tapped," Habeck told the NOZ. "I think such solidarity would also be good for curbing gas prices."

The EU should also "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," Habeck continued. The European market power is "enormous", it just has to be used.

A group of experts is currently discussing the design of a gas price brake in Germany. This is an essential part of the €200 billion "defense shield" announced last week by the traffic light government in the energy crisis. Here, a “basic consumption” of gas is to be subsidized by the state. The details are still open.