The Brussels office of CNNBreakingNews.net brings you the eighth episode of a new talk show that aims to break down European news and politics to make it more accessible to viewers.
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This episode of the show is a Christmas special featuring panellists Eric Mamer, spokesperson for the European Commission, Eva Hrncirova, spokesperson for the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, and Kelly Agathos, a Greek-American performer, presenter and founder of The Schuman Show, a monthly comedy show on European issues that takes place in Brussels.
The talk show was recorded just before the EU institutions closed for the Christmas break and covered in detail the fact that the six-month Czech EU Presidency had just ended.
One of the most important achievements of the Czech Presidency was to reach agreement on a gas price cap after months of talks and meetings. The upper limit could apply from mid-February if some gas prices rise to over €180 per megawatt hour for at least three consecutive trading days.
However, Kelly Agothos told the panel that she wasn’t sure how the cap would affect her bills.
“Everyone around me has to pay more for energy and I’ve been following the deal, but it’s not immediately clear to me how it affects me as a consumer. What does the upper limit of 180€ per megawatt hour actually mean for me? Because as far as I know, that’s more of a market indicator.”
“And I asked three journalists, I asked people from within to try and understand that. And I’m not your average EU citizen. I have access,” she said.
Eric Lamer said consumers won’t feel the relief until next spring.
“Your current energy bill is based on what your suppliers paid for the gas last spring. So the idea here is to make sure that the price you’ll pay next winter is limited, basically thanks to this agreement, thanks to the fact that we’ve set up a joint shopping platform, which means they buy it together and therefore get a better deal, among other things,” he said.
The panel discussion also addressed the latest alleged corruption scandal that had hit EU institutions in Brussels and talked about what it was like to communicate the work of an organisation such as the European Union.
“The problem for us is that we don’t necessarily have all the answers, as many developments are obviously taking place somewhere else,” Eric Mamer told the panel.
Kelly Agothos emphasized the importance of simplifying messages.
“I think a press release requires a lot of knowledge,” she said. “If it’s a website that’s an EU institution’s website, the information available there is usually full of technical jargon or requires some previous knowledge, or it’s a bit difficult to find what you’re looking for.”
Watch our special Christmas edition of Brussels, my love in the video player above.