BRUSSELS, Oct 16 (Archyde.com) – European Union leaders will consider several proposals on gas price caps, a topic that has divided member states for weeks, according to new draft conclusions seen by Archyde.com for the summit. October 20 and 21.
The 27 EU countries disagree on their action plan to bring soaring energy prices under control and protect consumers from too high bills, as Europe prepares to pass a winter marked by the shortage of Russian gas and the threat of a recession.
Most of them want a gas price cap, which is nearly 90% higher than a year ago, but do not agree on the terms of its application. Some countries, includingGermanythe largest gas market in Europe, are still opposed to it.
The European Commission is due to propose measures to deal with the crisis on Tuesday, ahead of the meeting of EU leaders.
Several countries in favor of the gas cap fear that the Commission will not present the options they have proposed, an EU diplomat has said.
“Impatience is growing with member states,” these countries said. “So we changed gear and we put everything that floated (..) on the table. It’s a way of putting pressure on the Commission to make the most concrete proposals possible”, they have added.
According to the previous draft conclusions, EU leaders had reached an agreement to “study a temporary dynamic price corridor” on the natural gas until another EU gas price benchmark is in place.
Belgium, Greece,Italy and Poland are in favor of a “price corridor” that would apply to wholesale transactions, which implies a range of prices whose median amount would be lower than the market price.
The draft says the leaders “will also explore a temporary EU framework to cap the price of gas in power generation at a level that helps lower power prices without (..) driving up overall gas consumption”.
According to the diplomats the “Iberian model”, set up by theSpain and Portugal in June, which consists in capping the price of gas used for the production of electricity, could achieve consensus. Some member states fear, however, that this will lead to an increase in demand for gas from the EU.
The consideration of several options in the draft summit conclusions does not mean that any or all of them will necessarily be adopted, warns the diplomat.
The idea is to ensure that no solution is ruled out before the leaders meet, he adds.
EU ambassadors will meet Monday evening in an extraordinary session in Luxembourg to discuss the subject, he said. (Report John Chalmers; French version Claude Chendjou)