The energy ministers of the European Union’s Member States exchanged views, on Friday 30 September in Brussels, on the introduction of new European measures to mitigate the rise in energy prices , but failed to overcome their divisions on the issue of capping fossil gas prices.
In a rather vague statement, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade (whose country currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council), Jozef Síkela, stressed: “The Council has called today for immediate further actions on the European level that would allow us to tackle the issues we are facing with the urgency it deserves”.
While 15 Member States had sent a letter to the Commission calling for a cap on gas prices for all wholesale transactions (see EUROPE 13031/8), the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, recalled the institution’s reservations (see EUROPE 13032/4) - shared by some Member States such as Germany, the Netherlands and Estonia.
“To take such a drastic step in a responsible way, a number of preconditions would be non-negotiable, first among them an unambiguous mandatory commitment by the Member States to save gas demand beyond our current 15% reduction plan”, she said after the meeting.
She also recalled that the Commission is ready to develop a temporary EU-wide measure to limit the price of gas used for electricity generation, taking care not to increase gas consumption.
Towards a unanimous decision on the Russian gas cap
Ms Simson also called for a price cap on all gas imported from Russia, including liquefied natural gas (LNG).
There is currently “no consensus” on this issue, she acknowledged, while stressing that “some Member States see this as a sanction”.
“The conclusion reached by the ministers is that, even if it is an idea that needs to be pushed, it falls more within the mandate of foreign affairs under the sanctions”, said the office of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, French Minister for Energy Transition.
More consensual topics
However, there were some points on which there was a broader consensus.
According to the Commissioner, there was broad agreement among Member States on the need to make greater use of the EU’s common negotiating power to define price corridors, “not fixed caps”, with “trusted” gas importing countries such as Norway.
Another widely supported measure is the introduction of an alternative to the Dutch TTF, the benchmark used in the European gas market.
“We have kick-started work to develop a complementary EU price index that better reflects the energy reality of today and does not artificially inflate the prices”, Ms Simson said.
Next steps
Responding to the ministers’ call for new emergency measures to tackle rising gas prices, Ms Simson said the Commission “will develop these ideas further before the European Council next week (6-7 October in Prague)”, with a view to presenting a legislative proposal “swiftly”.
Nord Stream
On the issue of the three leaks detected on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines (see EUROPE 13031/3), the ministers expressed their concern that these were deliberate acts.
“There is a strong joint commitment to intensify our efforts to strengthen the protection and the resilience of our critical energy infrastructures”, said Mr Síkela.
He said the incident has no immediate impact on the EU’s security of energy supply. The Russian gas giant Gazprom had in fact stopped gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1, while Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation.
He added: “Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response”.
Calling for an EU-wide approach, Commissioner Simson announced that she will work with her Home Affairs counterpart, Ylva Johansson, to propose to Member States a physical protection stress test for critical energy infrastructure.
Earlier in their meeting, ministers agreed on an emergency package of measures to reduce electricity consumption, collect excess profits from some electricity producers and redistribute these revenues to end consumers (see EUROPE 13033/1). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)