For a majority of Member States, the only positive element in the European energy debate is that, finally, the European Commission, after much begging and insistence, has put on the table a legislative proposal to fix gas price. The problem, according to the third vice president and minister of ecological transition, Teresa Riberais that the three elements on which the initiative revolves –design, prices and conditions– they are “badly planned & rdquor ;, “it seems designed to guarantee that it will never ever be applied & rdquor; and “it seems to Spain that it’s a bad joke& rdquor ;, he explained upon his arrival at the extraordinary meeting of energy ministers that will evaluate for the first time the legislative proposal presented on Tuesday.
“In all light it seems to us absolutely inapplicable, ineffective and outside the purpose and the demands reiterated by the Energy Council and by the European Council,” he pointed out. In Spain’s opinion, the ceiling from which the corrective mechanism would be activated, 275 euros per megawatt hour for two weeks, it’s unrealistic. “In our opinion, a price cannot be demanded so high that it will never, ever be applied. These forecasts could not have been applied this summer because that price threshold is required to be exceeded for 15 consecutive days. If for 15 days in a row we are exceeding that threshold, Europe has a very serious problem. Nothing needs to be done because it is so serious that it probably could not recover from that state of shock & rdquor; but a “dynamic price & rdquor; that take into account the prices marked in international markets, with an additional plus.
Ribera has gone further. He not only considers that the Brussels plan is badly designed but also that it could generate the opposite effect to the desired and that instead of lowering the price “incentivize an increase & rdquor ;, he has alerted a council of ministers upon his arrival that he has anticipated will be “complicated & rdquor; because the national positions are divided. “There is a large majority of member states that view with great concern how slowly the Commission is reacting to the mandate it has received from the European Council and the Energy Council,” he insisted.
Emergency and renewable
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In addition to talking about the gas price cap, the agenda includes discussion of two other proposed regulations. The first about the emergency regulation raised by Brussels in October and which includes solidarity measures and the implementation of joint gas purchases and a second on the acceleration of renewable energy deployment. Two proposals that, according to Ribera, are closely linked to the cap on gas. “To support this entire package today, leaving open such an important element as guidance on what the general path of prices at which we buy gas should be would be a huge mistake,” the vice president recalled.
“In our opinion it is not possible to adopt if it is not in the same package, on the same day,” he added, expressing doubts, for example, about the text on renewables that he considers “confusing”; and “unbalanced & rdquor; and that “it can lead to great litigation both by promoters of renewables and by environmental defenders& rdquor ;. According to the Spanish representative, the most appropriate thing would be to continue with the technical work and reach an agreement on the three elements in two or three weeks. “To support part of that package today, leaving open such an important element as guidance on what the general path of prices at which we buy gas should be, would be a mistake. We should adopt all three things simultaneously and avoid the mistake of supporting two proposals that are important but partial and leaving it subject to an uncertainty that remains to be resolved & rdquor ;, she has stated.