Energy ministers meet in Prague to advance negotiations on a possible cap on the cost of imports of this energy
The energy ministers of the European Union (EU) are discussing the most appropriate measures to lower the price of energy these days. After agreeing to cut electricity consumption by 10% and use the windfall from renewables to protect the most vulnerable consumers, negotiations to impose a cap on gas costs have stalled. However, this Tuesday and Wednesday energy ministers met in Prague with a clear message to the European Commission: “act now” to stop the energy crisis.
Entering the Energy Council, the Third Vice-President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, assured that “tremendous” progress has been made in negotiations to provide a “united, supportive and flexible” response to the current situation. However, he has acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to be done to reach an agreement. He also defended that Europe needs “a much clearer reference and adjustment to the realities of gas prices”, referring to the possible change of the Dutch TTF reference index for determining gas prices.
The representative of the Czech Republic, the country holding the EU presidency this semester, agrees that it is necessary to “clarify” the directives proposed by Brussels. More specifically, he was prepared to continue with the cap on the price of gas imports and the promotion of the joint gas purchasing platform. The idea is that this mechanism serves to pool Member States’ demand and thus reduce the cost of energy reaching the continent. “It is necessary to maintain unity and act quickly,” he insisted.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the International Energy Agency and Norway, now the main supplier of gas to the EU. The Austrian energy minister has urged the European Commission to negotiate contracts with the trusted supplier countries -Norway, the United States, Qatar-. “They are the ones who can reduce energy price pressures,” he assured.
For his part, the German representative assured that there is “a constructive spirit” among EU countries and was ready to support measures to reduce energy consumption in order to “avoid rationing”. Berlin has been widely criticized for promoting a €200,000 million state aid plan to alleviate the impact of its consumers and businesses’ energy bills. In addition, the German government plans to impose a cap on the gas price at a national level from March, while it is reluctant to adopt such a measure at a European level.
Of course, Berlin sent a joint proposal with the Netherlands this Tuesday to further reduce energy consumption and curb prices. The two countries are committed to saving and calculate that each country could reduce its consumption by between 15 and 20%. Poland, Bulgaria and Romania were also optimistic about a possible “common” agreement. The Polish representative assured that there are already 17 states that support the cap on the gas price in the face of Russian manipulation.
Everyone wants to lower the price. Yesterday joint document with Germany proposing measures. Today’s analysis of a chap. Important energy security. Joint purchases, in favor of more binding savings this year I save 25%. Efficiency 15-20% each state
Source: La Verdad
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