Energy Council: Slow steps towards comprehensive energy emergency measures in Europe

Already at the European Council meeting on October 20-21, the national leaders had requested the European Commission and the Council to “urgently” lay out “concrete decisions” for (1) voluntary joint purchasing of gas, (2) a “temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions “to “immediately limit episodes of excessive gas prices”, (3) a temporary EU framework “to cap the price of gas in electricity generation” and (4) increased efforts to save energy, amongst others.

The national ministers, in their meeting of October 25, subsequently discussed a legislative proposal of the European Commission for a Council Regulation on ‘Enhancing solidarity through better coordination of gas purchases, exchanges of gas across borders and reliable price benchmarks’, in addition to a non-paper on by the European Commission on policy options to mitigate the impact of natural gas prices on electricity bills.

Ministers generally welcomed the main principles of the proposal and emphasised the need for swift and coordinated efforts at European level in a spirit of solidarity. In particular, they agreed in principle on an obligation for countries to pool demand for at least 15% of their gas storage filling requirements – in an attempt to have joint gas acquisition with cumulatively more market power at lower prices. However, at the same time, ministers were unable to move substantially forward on price caps and a decoupling of gas and electricity price developments.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “In the EU, compromise is usually an added value and quality assurance in policy-making, and it is clear that joint measures, far-reaching as they are, need time for deliberation and negotiations. In this context, I welcome the steps that the Energy Council has agreed on during its last meeting. It is however clear that prices continue to go up, and citizens, workers and their families feel the burden of their bills every day. It is imperative that the ministers in the Council, in cooperation with the European Commission, convene again urgently and move on to roll out price caps for gas, and to decouple electricity prices from gas prices. The task is certainly complex and technical, but the matter is also imperative to resolve”