© Reuters Energy divisions in Europe are charged, Germany and the Netherlands are asking the EU to buy gas together
Financial Associated Press, October 12 (publisher Zhou Ziyi) On Wednesday (12), according to a document, Germany and the Netherlands will propose an energy plan to help reduce energy costs in the European Union.
EU energy ministers will meet in Prague on Wednesday to discuss how to address current energy issues.
Germany and the Netherlands have developed a package that focuses on advising EU countries to jointly purchase gas to prevent individual countries from excessive bidding on the market.
Other measures in the document include the raising and immobilization of gas demand reduction targets and the development of an LNG benchmark to complement the European reference gas, the Dutch TTF.
lay the foundation
The EU executive body should carry out impact assessments of any measures to understand how it would affect gas demand, security of supply and the energy transition, the paper says.
The document will form the basis for Wednesday’s talks between the two energy ministers. Germany and the Netherlands argue that the measures should be implemented “immediately” and that Member States should ensure that their storage capacity is coordinated next year to prevent price spikes.
Germany and the Netherlands said that any measure should be “considered very carefully and should also include shared responsibility”.
The document will set the stage for a meeting of European energy ministers who will seek a joint proposal on a tense day so that the European Commission can present a new set of measures at a summit in Brussels on 20-21 this month.
Divergence on the maximum price of natural gas
At an informal EU summit last week, there was a “serious disagreement” over a cap on natural gas prices and a day of discussions failed to make substantial progress.
Fifteen EU countries said last week that a gas price cap should be the next step, with countries supporting the proposal including France, Italy and Poland. However, countries like Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands have objections.
Germany, Europe’s largest gas market, has been skeptical of the price cap plan, saying it would not be price competitive and would make it difficult for the EU to purchase gas and could cut off supplies. Germany believes that the main focus of the energy program should be cost reduction.
The German and Dutch documents stressed that “any measure aimed only at the appearance of high prices is not sufficient to effectively solve the root of the problem”.
