A majority of Member States are calling for this measure to fight against rising energy prices.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
The European Commission is ready to “examine” capping gas prices on the European market, said Wednesday, October 5 its president, Ursula von der Leyen. A majority of Member States are calling for it, to cope with rising energy bills.
The European Commission had previously mentioned a price cap only for Russian gas, fearing, like Germany, that a limitation of the price of all gas imports would push producers to prefer other destinations. But 15 Member States, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Poland, are calling for a general cap on the wholesale price of gas. The Commission is due to present proposals ahead of an EU summit on Friday 7 October and a meeting of energy ministers on 11-12 October.
Ursula von der Leyen has already indicated that the Commission is “ready to discuss a cap on the price of gas used to produce electricity”, what would be “a first step towards a structural reform of the electricity market” European. “But we also have to look at gas prices (…) which concern industry, heating”she continued.
“We will work with member states to reduce gas prices and limit their volatility, in order to limit the impact of price manipulation by Russia”, added the head of the community executive, stressing that a cap on gas prices in general would be a “temporary solution” in “exceptional period”.