Spain and twelve other countries ask Brussels to limit the price of all gas imports to the EU

BRUSELAS, 27 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spain and twelve other countries of the European Union finalize a letter to the European Commission in which they request that a price limit be established for all gas imports to the community market and not only that supplied from Russia.

The letter that will be sent by the Ministers of Energy of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Italy, Malta, Romania, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia and promoted by Belgium, asks the European Commission to present a proposal to put a limit to the price of gas in the European Union with a view to the Energy Council on September 30, in order to later draw up a legislative proposal.

The thirteen member states urge that this limit be applied to all imports of natural gas to the EU market and that "it is not limited to specific jurisdictions", according to a document to which Europa Press has had access and which could still vary until on Friday in negotiations with other partners.

In addition, the countries are calling for the instrument to be designed in such a way as to "ensure security of supply and the free flow of gas within Europe" while reducing gas demand."

Thus, the Member States propose that this cap be complemented with proposals to strengthen the "financial supervision of the gas market" and the development of "alternative reference indices for setting gas prices" in Europe, which would complement the TTF (Title Transfer Facility) Dutch as a reference to set the price of gas.

The letter highlights that the biggest problem for the community market is the "wholesale price of gas" and underlines that more and more EU countries are asking for a limit on that price to "mitigate inflationary pressure" and provide a framework "in case of possible supply cuts".

At the beginning of September, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asked to impose a ceiling on the price of Russian gas as an urgent intervention measure in the energy market to contain the electricity bill.

The proposal, however, did not go ahead due to a lack of support from the Member States, as many delegations wanted to go further and extend the measure to all gas imported into the EU.