Heads of state and government from 44 European countries meet at an informal summit in Prague (Czech Republic) to discuss peace and security, energy, climate and the economic situation, all marked by the war scenario in Ukraine and the energy crisis.
Heads of State and Government of 44 European countries meet this Thursday in Prague (Czech Republic) at the first summit of what the European Political Community. The meeting will serve to discuss the approach taken yesterday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the need to develop a “new roadmap” to curb gas prices.
In addition to the heads of state or government of the 27, representatives of six Balkan countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro), the United Kingdom and the four EFTA countries (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) along with Ukraine and Moldova, which already have candidate status, alongside Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In addition, the President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelensky, is expected to intervene electronically in the meeting.
Exactly, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, has absence of Russia and Belarus at the top, proof of what”isolated“They are both from the rest of the continent.
Although the idea of this new community came from the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and was later blessed by the rest of the 27, of the European Union, they strive to emphasize that it is not an integration project parallel to that of enlargement , but of an “intergovernmental process” in which everyone weighs equally.
To speed up the work, the 44 leaders will be divided into four working groups, two on peace and security and the other two on energy, climate and the economic situation. However, everything seems to indicate that the war in Ukraine and the biggest energy crisis in Europe in the past 50 years will dominate the agenda.
There is no consensus on the gas cap
Von der Leyen yesterday proposed a “roadmap” with four blocks of ideas that are first to continue to negotiate prices with “trustworthy” suppliers, such as Norway and the United States and, in parallel, to continue developing a platform for joint ventures. purchases of gas in the EU to prevent competition between countries from increasing the prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Secondly, the President of the Commission also called for: extend the “Iberian exception” to the whole EU that limits the contagion of the cost of gas to electricity in Spain and Portugal, while a far-reaching reform of the electricity market is being prepared.
15 states Members, including France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Slovenia, Portugal or Greece, have been urging the EU for weeks to impose a maximum purchase price on all gas imports, and moreover, so that reform of the gas price benchmark in the EU, the Amsterdam TTF, which they believe does not reflect the weight of the GLN in the market and is a fertile ground for speculation. Von der Leyen agrees that it is necessary to create an alternative to the TTF and already connects this idea during design with a possible maximum purchase price for gas. This reform is rejected by the Netherlands, Germany or the Scandinavian countries.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
