EU: They are looking for “bridges” for an agreement on the ceiling – Who disagreed, what is the Commission’s next move

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Today’s meeting of the ministers also ended without final decisions – The ceiling for Germany remains a “thorn” – The Commission’s next plans to find common ground

The European energy ministers, who renewed their appointment for November 24, continue to search for common ground in order to “bridge” their differences and find a solution for secure supply and a reduction in natural gas prices.

Today’s meeting ended with significant convergences on some issues such as “the main directions of the measures that will lower energy prices” as characteristically stated by the President of the Council and Minister of Industry and Energy of the Czech Republic, Joseph Sikela, without however not even this time to make a final decision which will relieve European citizens from the energy crisis and the upward trend in the price of natural gas as winter approaches.

“Ministers agreed that we need to focus on joint gas supplies – it’s something we’ve been talking about for several months and we need to start buying natural gas from reliable suppliers,” Joseph Sikela said shortly after the summer season, adding that there “broad support for the introduction of a dynamic ceiling on natural gas prices for the production of electricity”.

From the side of Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson he said at the end of the Council that “the package of measures includes a more representative indicator for natural gas prices, the strengthening of solidarity between member states in case of emergency and measures on how the common gas market will proceed”.

No final decision

However, no substantial decision has been made regarding the reduction of natural gas prices with the introduction of a “ceiling” on the price still being the big “thorn” mainly for Germany, it seems.

THE Joseph Sikela at the end of the meeting did not hide the fact that there are different opinions regarding the correction mechanism for natural gas prices on the TTF exchange. “The point is to ensure that with this ceiling, we will continue to be able to get the gas we need from the markets,” he noted.

Ms Simpson merely said that there had been a constructive discussion today regarding the ‘dynamic cap’ on the price of natural gas in the TTF and the Commission would shortly present detailed proposals. He stressed, however, that at the same time, the security of energy supply in the EU should be ensured and the increase in natural gas consumption should be prevented.

In two camps

Although most countries want ceilings here and now such as Greece, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Croatia, Belgium, Germany seems not to belong to them. During today’s meeting, Germany hastened to point out that theRegarding the ceiling, he found some ambiguities in the conclusions of the Summitwhile about the Iberian model notes that the Commission’s document creates more questions instead of solving them.

At the same time, Denmark and the Netherlands still find disadvantages in the cap with the Netherlands stating that the cap in the TTF needs more work.

However, time is running out with several countries such as the Czech Republic and France stressing that much has already been lost and progress must be made as soon as possible.

The Commission is preparing an alternative proposal

In a non-paper issued by the European Commission, it appears that a long-term and more structural method for high prices is already being sought, with the Commission proceeding with new proposals. Accordingly, the Commission emphasizes that it is preparing “a longer-term and more structural method of mitigating the effects of high gas prices in electricity prices”, which “will be able to be implemented quickly”. This method focuses on the remuneration of Renewable Energy Sources and other Technologies based on their actual cost of production.

“Renewables and other types of power generation infrastructure (eg nuclear) will be paid under contracts for the difference, regardless of the cap price. The price of these contracts will usually be determined by tender and will be a direct function of the actual production costs of the technologies involved. This shift to a contract-based fee-for-difference can be implemented very quickly and easily for new capacity entering the market,” the Commission emphasizes.

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