The European Commission is considering maintaining the price ceiling for natural gas in the European Union for longer, sources say to the business newspaper Financial Times. Due to the war in Israel, the committee fears that gas prices could rise sharply again this winter.
The situation in Israel has created a lot of uncertainty about the supply of gas from the Middle East. In addition, the alleged sabotage of a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia earlier this month also raises concerns about the stability of gas supplies to Europe.
In February, the European Commission imposed a price ceiling to combat gas price spikes. Russia’s gas supply has fallen sharply since the war in Ukraine. The price of gas has risen since then.
The current ceiling is 180 euros per megawatt hour. The ceiling comes into effect if the gas price exceeds the limit for three working days or more and the price is also at least 35 euros higher than the global target price for liquefied gas (LNG) for three days.
Germany and France urge the Financial Times also jointly call for the rules for granting state aid to be kept broad for longer. This allows governments to provide citizens and companies with energy support.
Outgoing energy minister Rob Jetten tells the same newspaper that money for energy support could be better used “to tackle the cause”. The minister is referring to, for example, energy saving measures.
2023-10-22 11:24:25
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