European Commission is monitoring the evolution of electricity prices “very closely,” the EU’s Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has said, pointing to long-term fixes like investments in energy savings and renewables as the main answer at European level.

“Higher electricity price is driven mainly by global demand” for energy, including gas prices which have been rising steadily since January, Simson said, according to Euractiv.

And EU countries have responded separately, because “social schemes to support the most vulnerable are designed uniquely to fit each member state,” she explained during a press conference held at the ITER experimental fusion reactor in Southern France.

In fact, when it comes to social or taxation matters, which can alleviate pressure on consumer bills, the EU is mostly powerless.

In Spain, the government introduced a temporary tax on windfall profits from energy firms, which could generate €2.6 billion until its planned expiration at the end of March. And a special tax on electricity will drop from 5.1% to 0.5% – the minimum allowed by EU law – until the end of the year.

In France, an additional €100 payment will be made to poorer households who are already eligible for the government’s energy voucher scheme.

At the European level, meanwhile, “there are several solutions that will help mid and long term,” Simson explained, saying first among them is to decrease the power sector’s reliance on gas and coal, whose prices have skyrocketed in recent months.

“Renewables are still producing at the best price,” Simson said, “so investments into renewables will stabilise the price in the future,” Simson said, echoing similar comments made earlier in the week by EU climate chief Frans Timmermans.

Other solutions include better-integrated electricity markets across EU borders and investments in energy efficiency, such as building insulation, Simson added.