Countries such as Italy are pushing hard for a swift and ambitious cap on prices BRUSSELS: EU leaders clashed over how to ride out Europe’s energy shock on Thursday, with France and Germany at loggerheads over imposing a cap on gas prices pushed skyward by the war in Ukraine. The bloc’s 27 member states have been squabbling for months over measures to lower energy bills, and a Brussels summit began in a chilly mood. Countries such as Italy are pushing hard for a swift and ambitious cap on prices, in the teeth of opposition from Germany, the EU’s biggest economy. There is huge political pressure to act, with strikes and protests over the cost of living spreading across Europe — notably in France and Belgium — and businesses fearing bankruptcy. Berlin risks finding itself isolated in the debate, with countries furious that the German government will not back a gas cap and for going it alone in helping its citizens pay for high prices with a €200 billion ($196-billion) spending bonanza. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shot back at his critics as he arrived for the talks saying that it was “quite clear that Germany has acted in solidarity” with his EU partners. French President Emmanuel Macron warned against Berlin standing alone as the talks began. “Our role is to do everything to ensure that there is European unity and that Germany is part of it,” Macron said. On the table for leaders are proposals by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, that try to satisfy the diverging views. But these have already been dismissed as timid by those wanting a clear ceiling on gas prices despite the opposing view — championed by Germany, but also Denmark and the Netherlands — that this would choke off supply or encourage consumption. The push for a common approach has been further hampered by Franco-German discord which burst into the open Wednesday when they delayed a regular meeting between Cabinet ministers. Breakthroughs are difficult when the EU’s biggest powers do not see eye to eye and Macron and Scholz met ahead of the summit in a bid to find common ground. In a sign of a possible easing of tensions, France on the sidelines of the summit agreed to build a green energy pipeline linking the Spain and Portugal to the rest of Europe. Berlin is seeking an alternative to Russian gas supply it has relied on for decades, but it was not clear whether the new plan would satisfy them. The commission’s proposals include an idea to allow joint purchases by the EU energy giants in order to command cheaper prices to replenish reserves. Another proposal is to give the EU’s executive arm the power to establish a pricing “corridor” on Europe’s main gas index to intervene when prices get out of control.