Energy crisis: fifteen Member States, including Belgium, are calling for a gas price cap
On Belgium’s initiative, fifteen energy ministers sent a letter to the Commission on Tuesday evening. They ask the European executive to present them with a proposal for this Friday.
By Véronique Lamquin
La Belgium does not give up. For several weeks now, the (Groen) Minister of Energy, Tinne Van der Straeten, and his activist experts, at European level, have been in favor of a general cap on the price of gas. Faced with the Commission’s obvious procrastination, and two days before an extraordinary Council convened on Friday, Belgium and fourteen other Member States, including Italy and France, sent the Commission on Tuesday evening a letter without equivocal, that The evening one could consult.
The fifteen signatories call for a cap on transactions for natural gas, general, “and not limited to imports from specific countries”. No question, therefore, of targeting only Russian gas. And to respond to the objections of countries such as Germany, the Netherlands or Hungary: “This cap could be designed in such a way that it ensures security of supply and gas flows within Europe, while contributing to the common objective of reducing gas demand. Capping is the priority. »
” As soon as possible ”
The fifteen signatory Member States – in addition to Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia – therefore ask the Commission “to present a proposal to this effect, which could be examined at the Extraordinary Energy Council on 30 September, and followed as soon as possible by a legislative proposal”.
As a reminder, at their previous extraordinary meeting, on 9 September in Brussels, the Energy Ministers had already asked the Commission to work on the general capping of gas prices, rejecting the idea put forward by Ursula von der Leyen of cap the only Russian gas. On that day, Belgium and Italy spared no effort to rally a majority of Member States to their cause. With success, even if the reluctance of the Commission manifested itself. “Mainly for fear of jeopardizing the security of supply”, comments an expert.
“Unsustainable inflationary pressures”
This Tuesday, the executive, through one of its spokespersons, assured “work on the subject” but, according to a diplomatic source, no proposal had yet been transmitted, at the end of the afternoon, to Member States. And this while the ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven are meeting this Wednesday to prepare the work of the Energy Council – which should also formally designate the three measures finalized by the Commission: the two mechanisms making it possible to recover tens of billions from producers energy, and reducing electricity consumption. Never mind, the Czech presidency has every intention of including a point relating to the gas price cap on Friday’s agenda… And still hopes for a document from the Commission in the next few hours.
For their part, the fifteen signatory ministers repeat that the Commission has been tasked with studying the gas price cap “from the start” (from March, via the European Council). And that a growing number of States are asking for it, while “the energy crisis has worsened, causing unsustainable inflationary pressures, which are hitting households and businesses hard”. According to them, this measure is likely “to help governments reduce inflationary pressure, manage expectations, provide a framework in the event of potential supply disruptions and limit the extraordinary profits of the sector”. And it can be supplemented with proposals aimed at “strengthening the financial supervision of the gas market, and developing alternative references to the formation of gas prices in Europe”.