On Monday 12 December, at a press conference with the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on the EU Council to “rapidly adopt” the latest emergency measures to tackle the energy crisis in order to prepare now for the winter of 2023-2024.
The President referred to three proposals for EU Council regulations on the agenda of the next meeting of the EU energy ministers on Tuesday 13 December, relating to: - gas solidarity, joint gas purchases and the creation of a benchmark for liquefied natural gas (LNG) transaction prices; - accelerated permitting procedures for certain renewable energy projects; - capping gas prices in the event of large increases (‘market correction mechanism’).
Although the Member States had already agreed on the content of the first two proposals (see EUROPE 13071/2), the ministers were unable to adopt them on Thursday 24 November due to divisions over the ‘market correction mechanism’ (see EUROPE 13070/1).
But these proposals “are essential for our energy preparedness”, warned Ms von der Leyen.
According to the IEA, the EU could face a deficit of 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of fossil gas in 2023, in the scenario of a total interruption of Russian gas deliveries by pipeline coupled with a rebound of Chinese LNG imports and milder winter temperatures (see EUROPE 13057/5).
However, the Commission President said she was convinced that the EU will manage to negotiate similar volumes of LNG as this year (around 130 bcm), provided we “further intensify our outreach to our international partners”.
She also called for the joint gas purchasing mechanism to be made operational as soon as the Council has adopted the relevant legislative proposal, and for the deployment of renewable energies to be stepped up and accelerated.
The IEA, for its part, has identified a package of measures that would help the EU prepare for the next winter, at a cost of around €100 billion in 2023.
See the IEA report: https://aeur.eu/f/4mk (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)