The Portuguese government welcomed the agreement reached in Brussels on Monday on the correction mechanism for the gas market, as setting a ceiling on the import price is “another sign of unity” in Europe.
“The Energy Council took an important step today by closing a series of files and finally, after a marathon of extraordinary Energy Councils, reaching an agreement on the correction mechanism of the gas market. The agreement on this file also allowed joint approval of joint purchases of gas possible and also the permit scheme [no domínio] of renewable energy”stated the Secretary of State for Energy, João Galamba, at the end of a meeting of the European Union’s energy ministers.
Regarding the compromise reached on the gas price cap of 180 euros per Megawatt-hour (MWh) — triggering the mechanism if this value is exceeded for three consecutive working days — Galamba noted that, “as was well known, there were countries that thought the price was too high, others too low, so there were blockades from minorities on both sides”and emphasized that “the most important thing here was that we reached a value that was significantly lower than the European Commission’s original proposal”that was 275 euros.
“So it was a good day. It took me a while to get here, but we finally reached an agreement, and I think Europe has given another sign of unity to overcome this crisis”said.
The State Secretary also explained that “given the possible impact of the measure taken today”, it has been decided “slightly delay the entry into force of this regulation”until mid-February, so that ACER, the EU agency for cooperation between energy regulators, can study the impact of this price cap.
“It is a commitment that seems reasonable to us and that has won the support of Portugal”synthesized.
EU energy ministers this Monday finally reached a compromise on the gas market correction mechanism, which required a qualified majority, with Hungary voting against and the Netherlands abstaining, and Austria, with all other member states voting in favour, European sources added. .
At issue is the temporary emergency measure proposed by the European Commission at the end of November to introduce a price correction mechanism for certain transactions on the Securities Transfer Market relating to natural gas, the TTF, which can be activated at high prices for several consecutive years. days to limit excessive increases.
This “last resort measure” aims to address situations of excessive prices by setting a maximum dynamic price at which natural gas transactions can take place one month ahead on the markets of TTF, the main European natural gas exchange.
The deal was reached in what was the last attempt of the year and under the biennial Czech presidency of the Council of the EU, and comes four days after the Union’s heads of state and government met at a summit in Brussels last Thursday, their energy ministers given a clear mandate to finalize an agreement this Monday.
Source: DN
