As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused gas prices to rise again in Europe, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that he had proposed to the other EU Member States that they put in place a EU27 cap on gas prices, on Friday 18 March, during a hearing before the Finance and Economic Affairs Committees of the French National Assembly.
According to him, this would allow Member States to negotiate a price as the EU27 that is a capped price with the EU’s three main gas suppliers, Russia, Norway and Algeria.
According to a senior EU diplomat, at least half of the Member States, especially the northern countries, would nevertheless have doubts about the proposal.
“It would be an intervention in the market that would offend some of our European partners”, Mr Le Maire acknowledged.
This topic will certainly be part of the discussions between the 27 Heads of State or Government of the Member States at the next European Summit on 24 and 25 March.
Southern Member States get organised
Ahead of the summit, leaders from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece met in Rome on Friday to define a common approach to rising energy prices.
Their aim is to convince other Member States of the need to take directly applicable measures at EU level, such as joint gas purchases.
“We want to push the European Commission and the other Member States to adopt important measures, to protect all States, in an area that is decisive for our future”, said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
His Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, added: “No country can tackle such a crisis on its own with full effectiveness”.
In its new gas legislative package presented on 15 December, the Commission proposed to improve the coordination of gas storage in the EU and to provide for the possibility of voluntary joint purchases of gas reserves.
According to the text, Member States could set up a mechanism for the joint purchase of strategic stocks by transmission system operators, notifying the Commission in advance of the purchase with a series of information such as the volume of gas planned for purchase or the anticipated costs and benefits.
However, this proposal is only at the beginning of the legislative process.
For his part, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa stressed the need to control gas prices. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)