The two countries are “optimistic”, while Brussels is already studying whether to extend this mechanism, which expires in May
Spain and Portugal have already made contacts to extend the exception beyond May. The two countries have formally requested an extension of this mechanism, which has allowed the impact of the gas price increase on electricity bills to be limited. Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and her Portuguese counterpart were “optimistic” after meeting competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Lisbon and Madrid hope to get the green light from Brussels to maintain the ceiling of between €45 and €50 per megawatt hour (MWh) they currently have, which will allow them to reduce the bill for homes and businesses by €4.577 million, according to calculations by the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
In the meeting, behind closed doors, the three parties reviewed the operation of this mechanism and now the proposal is in the hands of the technical teams. Although the date of the next meeting is still unknown, the determination of the prices and the conditions under which this extension would take place are still pending. For now, the signals from Brussels are “constructive” and invite “optimism”.
The Iberian exception came into effect in June 2022, following the approval of the Twenty-seven, which took into account the specificities of the Iberian Peninsula as an energy island. Since then, Spain has defended it as a “successful” initiative and other countries such as Italy and Greece want to follow suit.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
