The European Commission will look at changing taxes to boost energy efficiency and help poor people hit by high fuel costs but tread carefully on possibly taxing energy firms' "windfall profits", a spokesman said.
Spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said the European Union executive would urge member states at a summit next week to take "targeted measures to help citizens that are hardest hit by the current situation" without giving inappropriate incentives.
"There is also a real social concern here. Obviously you need to look at targeted help, for instance those households that may not be able to afford certain products, certain energy any more," he told a briefing this afternoon.
He said the Commission would carefully consider so-called "Robin Hood taxes", designed to tax huge profits at energy companies and redistribute it to households that struggle to pay their fuel bills.
Energy companies have benefited from soaring prices of crude oil, refined products and gas, and stand accused of making "windfall profits" by handing on to customers the cost of permits to produce carbon dioxide that they received for free.
They say they need the profits to invest in new low-carbon energy sources such as windfarms, solar and wave power.
"All of these issues that are part of the debate at EU level and member state level are obviously being considered," he added. "It's still part of the fine-tuning."
"There is on the one hand a case to look at the situation, but also a case to make sure any measure that will be taken does not have a counterproductive effect for instance in terms of businesses capability to make the necessary investments in order to guarantee steady supply," he added.