At the EU Energy Ministers meeting on Friday September 9th, a cap on gas prices was requested. This cap would be a response to rising gas prices that have a major impact on businesses and consumers.

The issue of rising gas prices was at the heart of the topics discussed at the Energy Council. Disagreements have arisen as to the very nature of the cap. The proposals put forward by the European Energy Ministers and the Commission include:

• Capping only Russian gas by pipeline (Commission position supported by France)
• A total halt of Russian gas imports (Germany’s position)
• Reluctance to any cap (position of Austria and Hungary)
• A price cap on all EU imports including LNG from Qatar and the USA (position of Italy and Belgium)

However, a point of agreement was found concerning the emergency measure for capping the incomes of sub-marginal electricity producers (renewable energy, nuclear…) which have a low operating cost. By recycling these revenues, this would help consumers.

This cap measure should be adopted in mid-September and discussed again at the next Energy Council on Friday September 16th.

Source: EU countries call on Brussels to cap gas prices, but leave out details