No energy shortages, but a painful winter looms for Europe, top EU energy leader warns

Europe needs to protect consumers from another energy price shock while making fossil fuels less central to the economy. Emergency measures can soften the immediate blow, but Brussels is warning governments not to let short-term subsidies or tax decisions undermine the green transition.

European Union Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said the EU is not facing an imminent energy-supply crisis, but warned that high prices could have a similar impact on households unable to afford heating or travel to work.

The Danish Commissioner said nearly 50 million Europeans were already unable to adequately heat their homes in a normal winter, underscoring the social risks of another price shock.

"We are looking into all ideas of how we can make rules more flexible, be more efficient in our implementation, do what we can, both on the supply and the demand side," Jørgensen told reporters on the sidelines of an informal gathering of energy ministers in Dublin on Tuesday.

Jørgensen welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's ask for a temporary relaxation of some fuel rules to help refineries produce more diesel and other products in view of increasing domestic supply.

Asked whether another emergency oil release was in the cards, Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) leader, who also attended the meeting in Dublin, did not consider it a top priority.

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