The Twenty-seven urge Brussels to cap gas and set a target to reduce electricity consumption

BRUSELAS, 9 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministers of Energy of the European Union have agreed this Friday to limit the price of gas in the community market and establish an objective of reducing electricity consumption as part of the four legislative proposals that the European Commission will present next week to stop the rising energy prices in the EU.

"We hope that the Commission will propose a temporary emergency intervention, including a price limit on gas," said the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, Jozef Síkela, in a conference press release after the match.

However, it has not been specified whether this maximum limit will be established for Russian gas imports only, as the president of the Community Executive, Ursula Von der Leyen, proposed this week, or if it will apply to all gas imports to the EU, although it seems that the first of the options has garnered a broad consensus.

The Ministers of Energy of the European Union have also agreed that the European Commission propose measures to reduce electricity consumption in the hours of maximum consumption.

"Our intention is to propose a mandatory target to reduce consumption during peak hours," he explained to Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson at a press conference, adding that these targets will take "national circumstances" into account.

In addition, windfall profits from nuclear and renewable energy producers (known as 'goes from heaven') have been the subject of agreement between EU energy ministers, with the intention of redirecting revenues towards vulnerable households.

Although the figure to which the price of electricity for these technologies will be limited has not been determined, the Commissioner for Energy has clarified that this limit will be set at a level so that "incentives for investment in renewables are preserved, which is one of the benefits of the current market design"

Similarly, the energy ministers have agreed to set a solidarity levy on profits from the fossil fuel sector that will be redirected to the most vulnerable households.

As part of the measures to avoid liquidity problems for companies in the sector, the Energy ministers have agreed that Brussels propose to establish state guarantees for futures market operators with the intention of injecting liquidity into the energy financial markets.

Thus, Simson has pointed out that another of the measures will involve involving insurance and banking firms to implement a temporary framework of state guarantees and has added that the European Commission "is ready to develop" an index for liquefied natural gas that is complementary to the Dutch TTF, "which is linked to a relatively small market" and to suppliers to Europeans through the gas pipeline. "It does not reflect the reality of the EU," she has indicated.