European Union countries failed to agree on a bloc-wide response to surging energy prices in an emergency meeting of government ministers on Tuesday, with some countries seeking a regulatory overhaul and others firmly opposed. European gas prices have hit record highs this autumn and remain at lofty levels, prompting most EU countries to respond with emergency measures like price caps and subsidies to help trim consumer energy bills. Countries are struggling to agree however on a longer-term plan to cushion against fossil-fuel price swings, which Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Greece say warrant a bigger shake-up of the way EU energy markets work. “There was no agreed position on whether or not intervention measures should be adopted at the EU level and applied in all member states,” Slovenian infrastructure minister Jernej Vrtovec, whose country holds the EU presidency, said after the meeting. Spain […]