The informal meeting of EU energy ministers was held in Prague, the Czech capital, on the 12th. The meeting mainly discussed topics such as coping with the high price of natural gas, winter energy reserves and electricity market reform, and reached consensus on joint procurement of natural gas by EU member states. At the press conference after the meeting, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, Joseph Sikla, said that the officials at the meeting unanimously agreed that it is necessary to jointly purchase gas from 2023 and adjust the EU natural gas price benchmark, so as to better curb the soaring price and speculation. Sikla said that the European Commission will release relevant proposals next week. The EU Energy Minister is scheduled to continue discussion at the official ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on October 25 and is expected to adopt the proposals at the subsequent special ministerial meeting. However, the issue of setting a ceiling on the price of natural gas, which was widely concerned, failed to make progress at the meeting that day. The European Commission member in charge of energy affairs, Cadrey Simson, said that it was uncertain whether the European Commission's proposal could include a ceiling on the price of natural gas used for power generation, which should be determined according to the degree of support of member states. Due to the different energy demands, dependence on suppliers and energy structures of EU member states, as well as their different coordination capacities, there are always differences in the coordination of overall energy policies within the EU. Although EU member states have agreed to take joint measures to deal with the serious energy supply tension, due to differences in specific response methods, the EU has not been able to make breakthroughs on issues such as setting a ceiling on natural gas prices. Influenced by the backbiting effect of EU sanctions on Russia, Europe's energy supply is tight, and the prices of natural gas and electricity soar, leading to high overall inflation. According to the data released by Eurostat on September 30, the inflation rate in the Eurozone climbed to double digits in September, reaching 10% at an annual rate, a record high. According to the latest data from the Czech Statistical Office, the inflation rate in September reached 18%, the highest level in nearly 30 years. (Liu Xinshe)