Luxembourg - Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič presented a letter in which Slovenia proposes measures to regulate the EU's energy market as he attended a session with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg on Tuesday. He stressed the need to act immediately to ensure the normal functioning of the market, the Finance Ministry said.

The letter expresses concern about the rising energy prices and extreme price volatility in the derivatives market, which poses liquidity problems for energy companies.

Boštjančič stressed the need to act immediately to ensure the market functions normally while noting the measures do not have to entail risks for the financial sector.

The existing rules on collateral used in these markets should be better clarified and the existing and possible additional specific mechanisms examined to limit trading in cases of extreme price volatility. In doing so, one should distinguish between speculative deals and those that serve as collateral.

The minister sent the letter to EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Mairead McGuinness and his EU counterparts.

As soon as Boštjančič arrived at the session of EU ministers he said the Slovenian analysis shows the high price fluctuations can be largely attributed to speculators, whom he labelled as war profiteers.

On Monday, he attended a session of eurozone finance ministers discussing fiscal policy. The ministers agreed measures to protect households and companies will also be needed in the future while debt will at the same time have to be kept at sustainable levels.

Today, EU finance ministers reached agreement on the Council of EU's guidelines for talks on RePowerEU, a draft plan to eliminate dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

The idea is to include its goals into national recovery and resilience plans, which are a basis for member states to drawing EU recovery funds.

The plan brings an additional EUR 20 billion in grants, and Slovenia can expect to receive almost EUR 117 million.