The 27 meet this Tuesday to try to come closer to an agreement that has them divided: on the one hand, those who consider it useful, but insufficient, and on the other, those who see it as a risk to the supply.
Euskaraz irakurri: EBko herrialdeek etena egin dute gasaren prezioari muga jartzeko egindako bileran, jarrerak hurbiltzeko
The energy ministers of the European Union (EU) have paused in their meeting to try to reach positions at a technical level after evaluating a new text that contemplates a cap on the price of gas in a range between 200 and 220 euros/MWh.
The Government of the Czech Republic, as the rotating presidency of the EU, has presented a new draft first thing in the morning according to which the mechanism would be activated if the one-month gas price in the TTF index remains within that range for a period three to five days.
After studying this document for nearly two hours, the Energy ministers have suspended their meeting at twenty-seven, as reported by the Czech presidency, to continue with the informal negotiations.
Different delegations have been optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement today, even if it is not complete, and in any case conveying “something very concrete” to the heads of state and government, who will address the issue of energy prices in a summit in Brussels this Thursday.
The 27 have arrived at the extraordinary meeting divided between those who consider this correction mechanism a useful but insufficient tool, and those who see it as a risk to the supply in the face of winter.
On the one hand, there are the 15 countries that asked the European Commission for a proposal to cap the price of gas, as is the case of Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland or Belgium. These countries continue to criticize the high threshold of the price ceiling, and They call the measure insufficient.
In the opposite block, those like Germany or the Netherlands, consider that intervening in the market can jeopardize the guarantee of winter supplies. This creates “incompatible expectations” about what is to be achieved.
The initial proposal of the European Commission has varied since it was presented for the first time – the price ceiling has been reduced in each of them – although the basis of the text remains the same.
The intention of the Czech presidency is to vary the parameters without changing the configuration of the Brussels proposal in order to get both parties to “reconcile”, but that “requires commitments from both parties”, according to what Czech diplomatic sources have indicated. Meanwhile, member states are “reluctantly” advancing, leaving a “narrow margin” to reach agreements. Something that they will try to achieve “until the last moment”.
If not, the cap on the price of gas will become part of the summit agenda which is being held this Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels, during the European Council debate.
Source: Eitb
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