European countries' energy bills have already risen by 800 billion euros since the war in Ukraine.
The heaviest burden fell on Germany, which halted the gas pipeline project with Russia.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The bill for European countries to protect families and businesses from rising energy costs has climbed to nearly 800 billion euros, researchers said on Monday, urging countries to be more targeted in their spending to tackle the energy crisis.
European Union countries have already allocated €681 billion to address the energy crisis, with Great Britain allocating €103 billion and Norway €8,1 billion since September 2021, according to an analysis by the think-tank Bruegel.
The total of 792 billion euros compares to 706 billion euros in Bruegel's last assessment in November, as countries continue through the winter to grapple with the fallout from Russia halting most of its gas deliveries to Europe in 2022.
Germany led the spending chart, allocating almost €270 billion – a sum that eclipsed all other countries. Great Britain, Italy, and France were the next highest spenders, although each spent less than €150 billion. Most EU states spent a fraction of that.
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