In recent days, the Netherlands has not been very enthusiastic about the idea of a ‘price ceiling’ for Russian gas, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Wednesday. But on Friday, when EU ministers discuss the proposal, the Netherlands will still support it, a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported.
The idea is controversial, as it is still unclear how Russia will react to it. It is feared that Russia will stop all deliveries if European countries agree on a maximum price. That scenario much without seaports, where the dependence on Russian gas is much greater than in the west. According to committee chairman von der Leyen, the moment will come when Russia stops supplying gas.
Energy consumption must be reduced
Diplomats have already told EU colleagues that it is important for the Netherlands that the EU stays on track: the climate goals must be maintained despite this crisis. It is therefore important for the Netherlands that a very active way of reducing the consumption of gas and electricity in the EU is also sought out very actively. It will therefore request a voluntary 15 percent gas savings, which became mandatory to make mandatory for all countries.
Savings are the best way to reduce dependence on Russian gas and to keep prices down, according to the Netherlands. “We see this as a problem of demand rather than supply,” the Reuters news agency quoted as saying.
But whatever happens on Friday at the extra meeting of European energy ministers is likely to be higher than January’s anyway. Energy has become scarce. Because of the war with Russia, but also because of a dry and windless summer and maintenance of nuclear power stations. That drives up the price.
Skimming Profits
Another committee idea, also quite far-reaching, seems to be able to count on quite a bit of support. Diplomats saw in preparing the design of starting a green energy project. For example, they will be able to pay more and governments that can pay money to support low-income people. There also seems to be support for the idea of taxing profits from fossil energy.
The committee also suggested on Wednesday that the EU could temporarily suspend its state aid rules so that national governments can support their energy companies. Those are about to fall over in many places due to the high prices.
Really come later
It will not come to real strict Friday. The ministers have not yet received an official proposal to talk about, but others are mainly trying not to all get in the way of national measures. Many of the ideas are also more agreements than rules, because, for example, tax measures are national competences.
More meetings will be held in the near future to discuss exactly what they are doing. There should be definitive clarity in the first week of October. In the Netherlands, where a lot of hamburgers change on 1 October, most new energy contracts have already entered into force.
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Now that the power supply is under pressure, von der Leyen intervenes hard
Green electricity must become cheaper and a maximum price must apply to Russian gas. The European Commission proposes continuing measures to tackle the energy crisis.