If European gas prices are capped, it may affect Malta's interconnector energy prices "which would help our country" since a European directive would also apply to Italy, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said.

Dalli said that last Friday, all energy ministers coming from the 27 European member states met to discuss proposals regarding the sector, as on Tuesday the European Commission is expected to introduce a new energy directive. She said that during the meeting, ministers came up with different proposals that they felt "might make sense."

Amongst such proposals, there was a call for a mandatory decrease in electricity prices in all member states and for the Emissions trading scheme to be reformed. "We are waiting for the European Commission to come out with its proposal", she said, after which there will be negotiations with member states to find the best way in which they can be implemented.

The minister believes that such a proposal is going to be different from those discussed during the council with the energy ministers last week.

She said that if the European Commission goes for the capping of gas as a new directive "it would also help our country." 

"When it comes to the interconnector, as we receive the energy and electricity through the interconnector from Italy; any limitation on the price of gas is going to affect the prices in Italy, which in turn is going to affect us too," she said.

However, she added that it is best to wait for the European Commission to come out with its own proposals.

Answering another question by the media about whether the European Green deal is still feasible given current inflation and the energy situation, Dalli said that in the long term she believes that renewable energy sources are the way forward for a European member state to become "autonomous and independent in the production of their own electricity."

She said that the current situation is making other countries look into ways as to how they will procure gas. That is a short-term measure, she believes. "In reality, we want countries to be autonomous and independent when it comes to energy production, as the long-term solution is renewable energy," she said.

She said that as a country Malta is also taking the renewable energy direction.

"Together with the Finance minister, we are discussing ways in which we can push Malta, bearing in mind that this is an island, as other countries might have other natural resources which we don't."