A particularly busy meeting awaits the energy ministers of the EU Member States on Monday 19 December, with the main objective of reaching an agreement on the legislative proposal to cap the price of gas (‘market correction mechanism’), after months of discussions on the subject.
Ministers under pressure
It has to be said that the ministers now have their backs against the wall. Four days before their meeting, the EU27 leaders meeting in Brussels adopted conclusions on Thursday 15 December explicitly calling on them “to complete, on 19 December 2022, work on (...) the proposal for an EU Council regulation establishing a market correction mechanism” (see EUROPE 13085/3).
Mentioning a specific date in this way is “a unique formulation, which shows the pressure we want to put on the ministers”, explained the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the end of the meeting of the heads of state or government.
After ministers failed to reach a conclusion on the issue 2 days before the EU summit (see EUROPE 13083/11), several leaders expressed confidence that a deal would emerge on Monday.
Two emergency regulations pending
Such an outcome would lead to the unblocking of two other proposals for EU Council regulations, the content of which is already fixed.
They concern respectively: - 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 (see EUROPE 13070/1, 13071/2).
If the ‘market correction mechanism’ is agreed, both texts will be adopted without debate.
What renewable energy target for 2030?
The ministers will also try to reach a political agreement (‘general approach’) on two other legislative dossiers: the proposal for a regulation on methane emissions in the energy sector and the proposal for a directive to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in the EU and raise the renewable energy target by 2030.
While the first text should not pose any problems (see EUROPE 13086/2), the second - part of the ‘REPowerEU’ plan - is likely to be debated.
Like the Commission and the European Parliament, some Member States want to increase the EU’s target for the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to 45% by 2030, which is 5% more than the draft compromise put forward by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13080/34).
Gas package
On the basis of a report by the Czech Presidency, the ministers will exchange views on the EU legislative package for the market framework for renewable and low-carbon gases (see EUROPE 13080/10).
These are two proposals to recast existing texts, presented by the European Commission on 15 December 2021 (see EUROPE 12854/11), which aim to facilitate the penetration of renewable and low-carbon gases into the energy system.
Electricity market reform
In addition, the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will brief the ministers on the ongoing work on the reform of the EU electricity market organisation planned for the first quarter of 2023.
A non-paper obtained by EUROPE on Friday 16 December outlines the forthcoming proposal.
However, the Commission clarified that this document was not sent to anyone and therefore does not represent the views of the institution. Several sources confirmed that the Member States had not received it.
The Commissioner will also inform ministers of recent developments in the field of external energy relations.
See the non-paper: https://aeur.eu/f/4ps (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)