To help cope with the European energy crisis,  all twenty seven European Union (EU) members approved several measures at a Brussels meeting on Friday, including levies on windfall profits made by fossil fuel companies. 

But, after weeks of debate from members and market speculation, a bloc-wide cap on natural gas import prices has been tabled until later in the month.

EU members agreed on natural gas storage targets and cooperation measures earlier in the year to prepare for a possible winter without natural gas that have recently helped stabilize prices, despite an end to NS1 flows. However, heightened commodity costs have also increased economic pressures on members.

In September, the EC outlined a number of energy policies aimed at lessening those pressures, including a...