Gov’t welcomes EU gas price compromise
Energy Minister Skrekas hails agreement, says ceiling will give the right signals to the markets
The Greek government welcomed a long-awaited agreement reached on Monday by European Union ministers to impose a natural gas price ceiling, which they hope will help households and companies better withstand price spikes.
Several EU leaders suggested last week that determining a maximum ceiling to pay for gas was likely to be accomplished this time after past emergency summits failed to resolve their disagreements.
To reach a political agreement, the Czech Presidency used a “qualified majority” voting rule.
The price cap was set at 180 euros/megawatt-hour and will apply from February for the Dutch TTF Gas benchmark and from March 31, 2023 for all other indices, following an assessment by the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
The mechanism will be triggered when the gas price exceeds €180 for three consecutive days. The duration of the mechanism is set at one year.
Hailing the agreement, Energy and Environment Minister Kostas Skrekas said the EU made a decision in favor of its citizens based on the proposal made nine months ago by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the imposition of a realistic cap on gas markets by the EU.
“It is the product of a systematic effort that we have been undertaking all this time, but also of the European solidarity that – once again – the member-states have shown, so that the united Europe can face the energy crisis,” he said.
“Greece has once again proved to be a pioneer in the common policies of the member-states in the face of the major challenges facing the great European family,” Skerkas added.
“Today, we did our duty to European citizens.”
The gas cap debate was contentious because of concerns that worldwide suppliers will bypass Europe if foreign purchasers offered more money.
“No one, least of all me, has anything against low prices on the gas market. We have to bring gas prices down,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said upon his arrival at the meeting. “We just know from previous market interventions that we must be very careful not to want to do something good and trigger something bad.”
