The Greek government intends to implement measures reducing energy costs for enterprises, even without the approval of the European Commission, Greece's Development Minister Nikos Dendias said on Thursday following a ministerial committee meeting on industrial policy.
The minister made special reference to a measure allowing electricity-dependent companies to switch off when power is at its most expensive. The measure, known as an interruptable contract, prompted the Directorate General for Competition in Brussels to demand clarifications from the ministry on June 11. The ministry has not responded yet.
Dendias also referred to a measure that would lead to the return of 50 million euros from the 2013 earnings of Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) to its clients, as the government has pledged since February.
Dendias explained the measure on the basis of DEPA’s high profits and the high rates it charges its clients. The Greek side, he said, contends that a share of these earnings should be returned to the firm’s clients to make them more competitive, arguing that if excessive rates force them to shut down there will be no profits at all for DEPA.
If there is complete disagreement with European authorities, then “we reserve the right as a sovereign country to do what we think is right, and any other side has the right to refer us to the institutions that have jurisdiction over all European [Union] states,” said Dendias reports kathimerini.