The European Commission wants to abandon EU competition rules to allow governments to limit prices for consumers in the event of a complete cessation of Russian gas supplies, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported Saturday, citing a commission document on "short-term interventions in the energy market."

According to the document, European Union member states should be allowed to regulate consumer prices for a transitional period to protect them from sharp increases even before acute shortages, Reuters reported.

“The financing of this intervention requires significant sums,” the newspaper quoted the document as saying.

In March, the European Union warned that an attempt to cap wholesale gas prices would cause problems and undermine efforts to transition to green energy.

As early as May, the European Commission is to present a detailed plan to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2027 which supplies 40 percent of the EU's gas.