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Kamenický: In discussions about the EU’s competitiveness for Slovakia, energy prices are important

by AI | 11.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Ladislav Kamenický at Ecofin in Brussels talked about energy prices and competitiveness.

Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic Ladislav Kamenický at Ecofin on energy and competitiveness. PHOTO: TASR/Jaromír Novak

Brussels – The main political discussion of the EU finance ministers (Ecofin) on Tuesday in Brussels was about competitiveness and reducing regulatory burden. Slovakia supports these efforts and emphasizes the importance of energy prices, said Slovak Minister of Finance Ladislav Kamenický (Smer-SD) to TASR correspondent after the meeting.

Kamenický added that the Council of Ministers reached a political agreement on the directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and also dealt with the current economic and financial impacts of Russian aggression against Ukraine. According to him, Slovakia supports all activities related to the simplification of tax processes, debureaucratization, and so forth. He also admitted that he was somewhat “surprised” that many of his colleagues at the meeting talked more about defense than about competitiveness itself.

“We are trying to achieve low energy prices, and we need the transit of gas through Ukraine to be loosened, as Europe has a smaller amount of gas. This is causing our prices to rise, and we need energy prices to be as low as possible to have a competitive industry,” explained Kamenický.

The minister reminded that the government is trying to mitigate this situation by subsidizing energy prices so that the impact on households is not so great, and he explained that the lower the energy prices, the less state aid will be needed.

“I also told my other colleagues that the new issue of defense spending should not lead us to neglect competitiveness. This is the main problem we see in Europe, and as the largest car producer, we need to ensure that our industry is competitive,” Kamenický pointed out. (March 11)

“We are trying to achieve low energy prices, and we need the transit of gas through Ukraine to be loosened, as Europe has a smaller amount of gas. This is causing our prices to rise, and we need energy prices to be as low as possible to have a competitive industry.” Ladislav Kamenický.