Behind-the-scenes consultations on gas cap until Summit

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Athens and other European governments, which belong to the “bloc” of fifteen countries that support the imposition of a cap on natural gas, are clearly and openly annoyed with the European antics

By Penelope Galliou

Winter is here, the energy crisis affects countries and households and the time to find a European answer is running out along with the patience of citizens, but also of leaders who believe and insist on the need for a common European response.

And yet for the umpteenth time during the crisis experienced by the entire EU, tomorrow the 27 leaders will meet again in the Synod and they will probably leave there “empty-handed” regarding the much-discussed and much-desired, for the majority but not all EU countries, issue of the ceiling on natural gas

The fact that the EU Energy Ministers have once again failed to reach a mutually acceptable solution – despite the progress reported to have been made – and refer the issue again to the Ministerial Meeting scheduled for next Monday, confirms the finding, from time, of the Greek prime minister that Europe is a “slow-moving ocean liner”.

Athens and other European governments, which they belong to the “block” of fifteen countries who support the imposition of a ceiling on natural gas, are clearly and openly annoyed with the European backslidings, effectively preventing the timely resolution of the most critical and pressing problem in Europe at the moment, that of energy.

It was the end of October when the Greek Prime Minister, after the end of the Summit in Brussels, explained that “We do not want the issue to return to us under any circumstances,” he said, noting that “our goal is, having given a clear direction, for the ministers to resolve the issue at their own level.”

After last night’s developments the risk of this eventually happening is realgiven the difficulties that seem to remain after the new meeting of the European Energy Ministers, due to the countries’ conflicting interests.

However, no country has requested that the matter be referred to tomorrow’s Summit, so that the leaders of the “27” can once again negotiate the height of the ceiling on natural gas. Of course, this does not mean that the behind-the-scenes consultations and contacts will not continue at the top level between the leaders of the countries in order to give the directions and a “push” to the relevant Ministers and to finally bring an end to the so far fruitless efforts to find a solution.

After the completion of the work of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit, the Greek Prime Minister had outlined the Greek position during the coordination discussions held between the European South in Alicante, Spain. Kyriakos Mitsotakis had spoken about the need for a simultaneous agreement “for the three regulations that are under discussion: the issues of energy solidarity, the issues of simplifying approval procedures for the installation of new Renewable Energy Sources and, most importantly, the price correction mechanism – what we call the ceiling”. The Greek side also insists on its positions and rejects the argument that the ceiling will cause issues of adequacy, driving suppliers to other markets. “The supply chain has long since ceased to function normally”, as they say.

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