In the future, the European community of states will probably appear as a player on the gas market and order for all members. A concrete concept is to be presented next week. The topic of price caps is still open. Germany in particular is reluctant.
In the fight against the energy crisis, the EU wants to introduce joint natural gas purchases and an alternative reference price. The Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela announced a corresponding agreement in Prague after a meeting of EU energy ministers. The EU Commission will present proposals next week, said EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson. However, there was still no agreement on the planned gas price cap. Germany is one of the countries that reject the project. According to the Czech information, the EU states should then decide on the package of measures in November.
"I firmly believe that today's meeting helped to bridge the differences between member states," Sikela said. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck had previously called for "strengthening Europe's joint purchasing power through the joint purchasing platform for gas, stronger savings targets in Europe and regulatory simplifications to massively accelerate renewable energies".
The start of joint purchases is aimed for in the coming months, it was said. According to Simson, it should be checked over the weekend how the controversial point of a gas price cap will continue. The EU Commission's concrete proposals for the energy package are expected on Tuesday.
In view of natural gas prices, which have almost doubled within a year, most EU countries are in favor of a price cap. However, they do not agree on their specific form. "We need to decouple energy prices - gas prices from electricity prices," said Sweden's Energy Minister Khashayar Farmanbar, pointing to national regulations in Spain and Portugal for appropriate gas price caps as a variant.
Some countries, including Germany as Europe's largest gas consumer, have so far rejected a general upper limit for gas prices. They fear Europe will then be unable to receive supplies from global markets this winter.
