The leaders of the EU countries pushed the most difficult decisions to fix the energy market to be decided by the Commission and the Council of Ministers, ‘s EU correspondent Rikhard Husu writes.
BRUSSELS Defeat win. This is how you could summarize the results of the EU leaders’ nocturnal wrangling when the morning of the new meeting day dawned in Brussels. The EU leaders, who were on the move with little sleep, commented on the consensus reached in a positive tone.
– Everyone was convinced that the gas market had to be intervened, Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo assured before the start of the second meeting day.
De Croo is one of the most vocal supporters of the gas price cap. Belgium has been warning for months about the risks of energy price fluctuations and has demanded EU-level solutions to high prices. The majority of EU countries, including Finland, agree.
In particular, Germany has been in the spotlight, who fears that the price cap will lead to a gas shortage. This would be a disaster for a country that has built its energy policy on natural gas.
According to De Croo, the agreement was based on the understanding that the concern of Germany and other participating countries about the harmful effects of the price ceiling is justified.
– Some countries have concerns about security of supply. We share this concern, the Prime Minister assured.
Finland has emphasized that possible price caps must not lead to delivery difficulties or to an increase in gas use. Prime minister Sanna Marin also emphasized the importance of renewable energy to solve the energy crisis.
Like a typical EU compromise energy solution offers something for everyone.
Countries that demanded a gas price ceiling can refer to the records of the temporary price range and the price ceiling of gas used in electricity production.
It is comforting for the countries that are concerned about the price ceiling that nothing will be locked in today’s meeting.
The main topic of the energy discussion was, that the unity of the EU countries was preserved. However, the member countries’ differences of opinion may surface in the coming weeks, when the general guidelines of the summit move to detailed decision-making.
The summit also emphasized that the actions taken to solve the energy crisis have already had an impact on the energy market. The discussion on gas price regulation already curbs market fluctuations.
– When we look at the fever curve formed by the price of gas over the last few months, we see that the fever rises every time the president Putin says something, the president of the commission Ursula von der Leyen said after the summit.
– But when we took the opposite actions by filling stocks and saving energy, the market calmed down and the price fell, he continued.
Energy issues will be discussed again on Tuesday, when EU energy ministers meet in Luxembourg. The issue will also be returned to at the end of December, when the EU leaders meet in Brussels next time.
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