While the vast majority of Member States expressed their support, on Wednesday 6 October, during a debate between the Environment Ministers, for the European Commission’s position that the energy transition is the solution to the current energy price hike and not the cause of it, they appeared divided on the measures to be implemented at EU level to reduce the socio-economic impacts of this inflation.
This discussion began with the presentation of proposals from Greece (see EUROPE 12803/4), Spain (see EUROPE 12796/9) and Poland (see EUROPE 12802/1).
Spain recalled its proposal to use grouped purchases of fossil gas, putting forward the idea of a “shared platform” for gas purchases.
For Madrid, it is clear that “exceptional situations” require “exceptional solutions”.
“We must do whatever it takes to save our decarbonisation plan”, said the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, echoing Mario Draghi’s famous phrase.
But while Italy supported the idea of a “global European gas platform”, Belgium was reluctant.
“We are not convinced, at this stage, that grouped purchases can really offer a solution and we believe that this issue requires further discussions at the level of the European Council, as is planned”, said the Walloon Minister for the Environment, Céline Tellier.
Hungary, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, on the other hand, appeared to support Poland’s position to examine the impact of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) on prices for households.
Lithuania and Latvia, on their side, have expressed serious reservations about the Greek proposal to auction part of the emission allowances from the ETS market stability reserve in order to benefit from new revenues quickly.
Other Member States, such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and the Netherlands, have warned against taking very radical decisions, which could have very long-term negative consequences for the energy market and/or the ETS.
“While we welcome the constructive inputs and proposals from Member States, this temporary crisis should not lead to ad hoc interventions that can undermine trust in the market and create uncertainty among investors in the low carbon technologies”, said the EU Commissioner for Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius.
He also recalled that the Commission would soon - on 13 October according to the provisional timetable - provide an analysis of the rise in energy prices and a toolbox of short and long-term measures that can be implemented to address the situation. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)