Europe's past year has been characterised by uncertainty, with the price of commodities soaring then subsiding, leaving consumers at the mercy of market volatility and struggling to budget for the future.
The starkest swings have been in gas and electricity, though the cost of energy has with it pulled the price of goods and services upwards. Then again, the past year has seen a remarkable change in fortunes, as utility bills that last year threatened to cripple small businesses and kept homes from switching on the boiler have 12 months later dropped to 2014 levels (accounting for inflation).
The observation led Damien Ernst, one of Belgium's foremost energy engineers, to surmise that the energy crisis that defined European politics last year is over. Citing the cost of natural gas, which now hovers around €30 per megawatt hour, Ernst concluded that "we are paying the right price for gas today".
In addition, Europe's very active efforts to enlarge its gas reserves and ensure they were fully stocked before winter have paid off. By November the reserves were almost 100% replenished and Ernst predicts ending winter with levels at 65%, which leaves a comfortable margin to protect against any unforeseen shock.
And although geopolitical tensions remain high – especially the conflict in Gaza and the shipping complications arising from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea – recent instability has only brought minor market spikes that quickly stabilised.
All of which seems undeniably good news, until Ernst calls attention to Europe's industrial slump, which is down largely to the fact that many commercial producers have wound up operations, either relocating elsewhere in the world or because they were unable to weather the hardships. Reviving these sectors will require significant political will, probably accompanied by subsidies.
Then again, Belgium could become a place for industry to thrive as the diversified energy mix – increasingly supplemented by renewables – last year led to a record number of hours' negative electricity prices, during which large industrial consumers would actually be paid to use electricity from the grid.
Only a very small number of houses (in Flanders) have contracts that could see them paid to switch on the washing machine or hoover, but for all of us the energy prospects are optimistic.
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