The Czech presidency urgently brings back the issue of the ceiling on natural gas prices and calls for the new framework that has been created to be put on the carpet and for substantive measures to be taken – Statements of concern by European leaders – Wild rally in energy prices
European citizens are expected to be faced with unprecedented situations in the winter, with the governments of the states looking for measures to deal with the energy crisis, both at the level of supply, as well as at the level of high prices and accuracy.
Its member states The European Union have begun, one after the other, to express their concerns about what is to come, as the crisis between Russia and the West, primarily on the occasion of the invasion of Ukraine, shows that it will drag on for a long time. Many countries are already considering renegotiating with it Gazprom the terms of delivery of natural gas, that is to repay in rubles the natural gas they procure. In Brussels they have begun to think of the need to take comprehensive measures, both to save energy and to ease costs for citizens and businesses, as now, even in the central and northern rich countries, they have started to cut costs, for fear of a possible aggravation of the situation.
The Czech Republic, which currently holds its presidency Council of the European Union, is pressuring Brussels to announce an emergency Summit in the near future, so that the new framework that has been created can be put on the carpet and decisions can be made that will touch the essence of the problem and not superficial measures, such as those that have been decided until today.
The Czech presidency emphasizes that immediate measures must be discussed to put a “brake” on the upward rally followed by energy prices, especially natural gasfrom which the values ​​of the rest are also defined, bringing back the proposal for a ceiling.
As it states BloombergEuropean governments have spent more than 280 billion euros to deal with the crisis, which, however, turns out to be extremely little.
“The market has gone out of control to some extent, it has stopped reacting to good news so only bad news is piling up pushing prices up,” Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela was quoted as saying by CTK news agency. “It is a problem that faces all of Europe and since we have a European market and a European problem, then the easiest solution can be found at the European level,” said Sikela, noting that his country would support as a measure to deal with the problem, the setting of a maximum European energy price in case the EU decided to consider it.
Statements of concern from European leaders
In a telephone conversation that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had yesterday Wednesday with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and President of the Council of the EU, Petr Faiala, they discussed, among other things, the energy crisis. According to government officials, the prime minister reiterated that Greece supports society with national measures, but will continue to claim a European solution to the energy crisis, as no national budget can face this unprecedented crisis alone.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said yesterday that EU countries should agree a ceiling on the price of natural gas they import from Russia.
Spain and Portugal have already clamped down on natural gas tariffs, while France has limited electricity price increases, with its spokesman saying this cannot be sustained forever.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the era of plenty is over and that sacrifices will be needed in the coming months as war and the climate crisis change the energy landscape.
The German government approved measures to save energy in public spaces by limiting lighting and heating, while also signing an agreement to import hydrogen from Canada until 2025.
Spain announced austerity measures
Spanish parliamentarians today ratified the energy-saving measures decided by the government at the beginning of the month, as part of the European plan to reduce imports of Russian natural gas. In the foreground, restrictions on the use of air conditioners.
Although the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez does not have an absolute majority in parliament, 187 MPs voted in favor of the measures, 161 against (those from right-wing parties) and one abstained. A rejection of the legislative decree would be a painful defeat for Sanchez, who is on a tour of Latin American countries this week. It would also mean the automatic lifting of the measures, most of which have already been in force since August 10.
Among other things, it is stipulated that the thermostat of the air conditioners in the summer should not fall below 27°C in most shops, cultural venues (cinemas, theaters), but also in airports and railway stations. Similarly, in winter the thermostat will “lock” at 19 degrees.
Lighting in shop windows and public buildings should be switched off at 22.00.
Air-conditioned or heated spaces must install by September 30 a mechanism that will automatically close their doors so that energy is not wasted.
The conservative People’s Party voted against the measures, accusing the government of deciding them without first consulting local district authorities and employers. The government, however, managed to convince several small local parties, agreeing to allow them to propose retrospective amendments in a new parliamentary debate.
In addition, the government resorted to a tried and tested parliamentary technique of bundling unrelated measures together so that rejecting the whole bill would entail political costs for the parties. Thus, energy saving measures were only a small part of this legislative decree. Most of it concerns social benefits in the transport sector (such as free travel for public transport users) and student grants.
Record high electricity and natural gas prices
A new record was set for wholesale electricity prices. Next day prices are 718 euros in Italy, 706 in France, 699 in Germany.
In Greece, the price is calculated at 402 euros per megawatt hour and is the second lowest in Europe with the exception of Iberia where Spain and Portugal due to exceptions have a price of 175.33 euros.
Today’s natural gas prices broke all records in Europe. The price was set at 320 euros per megawatt hour due to heightened concerns about Europe’s supply.
Earlier, natural gas contracts on the Amsterdam energy exchange touched 300.50 euros per megawatt hour.
The increase comes amid fears of a prolonged disruption of flow through a major pipeline.
The main Nord Stream pipeline will stop for three days of maintenance on August 31, again raising concerns that it will not return to service as planned after the works.
Crude is trading at $95.99 a barrel, Brent at $101.3 a barrel.
Gas supplies from the Russian pipeline to Europe have fallen by around 75% this year, affected by sanctions on Russia.
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