Average diesel prices across the European Union reached a record €2.24 a litre on Friday. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen warned that price volatility isn’t going away.
He gave the warning in an exclusive interview with Euronews. Jørgensen urged European governments to use the flexibility they already have to ease fuel costs for millions of Europeans. He spoke as US President Donald Trump pressed EU countries to release millions of barrels from their emergency oil stocks.
The Fuel Bill and the National Toolbox
The commissioner pointed decisions toward national capitals. The flexibility he cited already exists. Governments now have to decide whether to use it, and how.
Osama Rizvi, Global Market & Product Strategist at Primary Vision, analysed the latest rise in energy prices. The Euronews programme reported the price level, the commissioner's warning and the pressure over emergency stocks together. Drivers, hauliers and households feel diesel costs directly. Jørgensen says they shouldn't expect the market alone to bring relief.
The call on emergency oil stocks raises another question for governments. Member states own those reserves, and Trump's request asks them to release millions of barrels.
Madrid's Housing Vote
In Spain, Congress voted on two government-backed housing decrees. Support from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's coalition was in doubt. The article doesn't give a vote count or a result.
Javier Iñiguez reported from Madrid, where the vote followed days of street protests. The measures aimed to tackle soaring rents and protect tenants. The report said rejection could trigger unpredictable political consequences.
National lawmakers, not Brussels, will decide the outcome. A government that can't hold its coalition together on a flagship housing measure faces an open question about what comes next.
Security on the Eastern Flank
The programme also spoke with Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu. Russian drone attacks on Ukraine were spilling into Romanian airspace and along the Black Sea. Bucharest warned of a broader campaign of cyberattacks, sabotage and other forms of hybrid warfare.
The warning brings a security dimension to the day's economic news. A member state on the Black Sea says the effects of the war are reaching its own territory and infrastructure.
Euronews anchors Méabh Mc Mahon and Stefan Grobe presented the programme live on television, the Euronews website and digital platforms including YouTube, Facebook, X and Instagram. It airs every weekday at 8 am Brussels time. The 20-minute programme is also available as a newsletter and podcast.
Why This Matters: Three stories from one morning share a theme: pressure lands on national governments. Fuel costs at €2.24 a litre mean Brussels is pointing capitals to the flexibility they already have. Madrid's housing vote shows how a cost-of-living measure can strain a governing coalition. Romania's warning shows that defence and energy security are bound together on the eastern flank. From a centre-right perspective, the question is who pays and who answers to voters. Emergency stocks, rent rules and security responses all sit with national authorities, and accountability for each runs through national parliaments and electorates.