The heads of state and government have agreed to study a price ceiling mechanism, to which the German chancellor was hitherto opposed.
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“Yes, France and Germany disagree on many points, we are in disagreement with France and Germany on several subjects,” launched Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, to His arrival at the meeting of European Heads of State and Government in Brussels, Thursday, October 20. Before continuing: “This is Europe. You talk about it, sometimes all night, to overcome these disagreements.” This time, it is the subject of the outbreak of energy prices that concerns as much as It divides Europeans, and more particularly the Franco-German couple.
The twenty-seven mentioned it for a long time, eleven hours for Thursday until late at night, while gas and electricity bills reach peaks, that companies prefer to stop some of their Factories rather than paying them, that social offspring rises and the recession is coming, with its share of bankruptcies and unemployed. They did not find a miracle solution but agreed to ask the commission to explore “urgent” tracks of which some – Germany in mind – did not want to hear about it.
This “sends a clear signal to the market for our determination to fight against any form of speculation,” said French president Emmanuel Macron. This also sends a signal of “unit” to Vladimir Putin, which has been on the division of Europeans for months. Certainly, but nothing guarantees at this stage that it will lower prices.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, on February 24, Europeans have organized themselves to be able to do without Russian gas: drop in their consumption, diversification of their purchases, rise in power of renewables. “Russia has reduced its gas deliveries to the European Union by two thirds. We were able to compensate” this fall, recalled Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission.
“We Let’s go in a direction Terra Incognita “
Today, the twenty-seven are looking for a parade in the surge in gas and electricity prices, which are linked. On October 18, the community executive put first proposals on the table – common gas purchase, preparation of a new reference index, solidarity between member states, market correction mechanism in order to block gas prices when they are too volatile and excessive -that several member states have deemed insufficient. During the night of Thursday to Friday, they agreed, while multiplying the safeguards, to study another mechanism of capping of the so -called “Iberian” prices – for gas used to produce electricity – and to think about aid from which the countries could benefit most weakened by the crisis.
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