Third Vice-President and Minister for Environmental Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, confirmed Thursday in Brussels that she sees “broad consensus” among her EU counterparts on the Spanish approach to a price cap. Gas purchases that have a dynamic reference, compared to ceiling 275 euros megawatt-hours (MWh) proposed by the European Commission but rejected by twenty-seven. The energy ministers met again on December 13.
“It was not unanimous, but the impression is that there is a broad consensus that it is better to consider it dynamic reference And the minister made it clear, after the meeting of energy ministers on Thursday in the Belgian capital, that not setting a price ceiling could generate the opposite effect to encourage upward change.
Likewise, he explained that Spain had indicated that the manner in which the maximum price proposed by the Commission could be activated and deactivated should be Clear, consistent and automaticwhile another variable that many member states have commented on is that in order to make sense, it must not only be fixed at the daily market price, but also in the medium and long term.
With no agreement on price caps for gas purchases, ministers have already reached political agreements on two other measures to contain energy prices: Solidarity and acceleration of permits for renewable energy sourcesalthough they were called upon to jointly approve the three texts at a new meeting to be held on December 13.
