The Twenty-seven seek an agreement to ensure liquidity in the energy markets

BRUSELAS, 9 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Czech Republic, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, Jozef Síkela, has indicated this Friday that he hopes that the Twenty-seven will reach an agreement to ensure the liquidity of the energy markets, in line with one of the proposals put forward by the European Commission this week to stop the rise in energy prices.

Síkela, has stressed the importance of the Twenty-seven reaching an agreement "to ensure sufficient liquidity in the markets on the supply side", upon arrival at the Council of Energy Ministers of the EU.

"We will align ourselves on liquidity measures" to support the part of the market that is in charge of supply, the Czech minister detailed, adding that he hopes that solutions will also be taken on the demand side.

In a further step, the Czech minister has emphasized the importance of reaching an agreement since the markets expect "a clear message" that "calms" them and does not make them "nervous".

Specifically, the EU energy ministers are seeking an agreement on the possibility of establishing state guarantees for futures market operators with the intention of injecting liquidity into the energy financial markets, one of the proposals put forward by the Community Executive as part of measures to deal with rising energy prices and ensure energy supply during the winter.

In addition, the head of Czech Industry has stressed that it is time to talk about "electricity savings", and has urged the application of a solution similar to the one established for the reduction of gas consumption at the community level, which establishes a voluntary system of 15% reduction until next spring.

For her part, the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, has expressed her willingness to listen to the position of the Member States on the possibility of putting a limit on the price of gas imported from Russia, considering that Moscow began to manipulate gas flows through through the gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1, for which one of the players in the energy market is "intensively manipulating" it.

In this sense, the French Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier, has shown her intention to support the initiative proposed by the European Commission and has defended that the mechanism would provide coverage for gas purchase contracts, for operators, and would avoid financial speculation.

An address in which the representatives of Germany, Estonia and Lithuania have also spoken. In her speech to the press, the Lithuanian Finance Minister, Gintare Skaistè, has indicated that such a measure must be financed at the European level, although she has been opposed to limiting the extraordinary profits of companies that produce electricity through renewable or nuclear sources. since it considers that it alters the internal market.

For her part, the Belgian Energy Minister, Tinne Van der Straeten, warned upon her arrival at the meeting with the rest of the partners that putting a ceiling on the price of Russian gas "is not enough" but that the price "of all gases", because in his opinion "it is the only way to lower the bill directly".

In addition, Simson has explained that he will resume the energy dialogue with Algeria and with other international partners, just as he has done in recent months with Azerbaijan and will do so in a meeting next Sunday with Norway.