ALICANTE, Spain (Reuters) – The leaders of the nine Mediterranean countries that are members of the European Union agreed on Friday to push for a dynamic cap on gas prices rather than a fixed one, the head of government said Spaniard Pedro Sanchez.
“We are going to work in this direction so that we (the EU, editor’s note) can agree on a dynamic and effective cap on gas prices,” said Pedro Sanchez, without giving further details, at the end. of the Euromed Summit in Alicante, Spain.
Prior to the summit, Spain had proposed a dynamic cap, ie a cap with fully fluctuating prices, based on average liquefied natural gas prices plus a premium.
Another proposal has been drawn up by a group of EU countries, including Euromed countries – namely Italy, Greece and Slovenia -, for a dynamic value fixed at 75% and fluctuating at 25%. based on LNG price references.
Energy ministers from EU countries intend to approve a gas price cap at a meeting on December 13, at which the Euromed is expected to present its joint proposal.
The Euromed also includes France, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal.
Gas prices within the EU have soared this year, after Russia cut gas supplies to Europe following its invasion of Ukraine.
European Union member countries are seeking an agreement to cap gas prices on the basis of the European Commission’s proposal for a one-month Title Transfer Facility (TTF) contract price, the Dutch index of benchmark for the gas market in the whole of the EU, not exceeding 275 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, are reluctant to any form of capping, fearing it will make the EU less attractive to gas suppliers in global markets.
(Report Belen Carreno and Andrei Khalip, French version Matthieu Protard)