EC makes additional proposals to fight high energy prices, ensure security of supply
The European Commission (EC) said on October 18 that it was furthering its work to address high energy prices and enhance security of supply and preparedness for winter by proposing a new emergency regulation.
The proposed measures will enable joint gas purchasing, introduce price limiting mechanisms on the TTF gas exchange and new measures on transparent infrastructure use as well as solidarity between EU countries coupled with continuous efforts to reduce gas demand, the EC said.
“These new measures will improve stability on European gas markets this winter and beyond and will also help to further mitigate the price pressure felt by European citizens and industry, while ensuring a functioning internal market,” the Commission said.
The regulation hinges on aggregation of EU demand and joint gas purchasing to negotiate better prices and reduce the risk of member states outbidding each other, it said.
It also advances work to create a new LNG pricing benchmark, a framework to propose a price correction mechanism to establish a dynamic price limit for transactions on the TTF gas exchange, and a temporary collar or bandwith to prevent extreme price spikes in derivatives markets.
Default solidarity rules between member states in case of supply shortages and a proposal to create a mechanism for gas allocation for EU countries affected by a regional or Union gas supply emergency are also part of the October 18 proposals.
In addition, the Commission will carry out a needs assessment on REPowerEU to speed up the clean energy transition and avoid fragmentation in the single market. It is also proposing a targeted flexible use of Cohesion Policy funding to tackle the impact of the current energy crisis on citizens and businesses.
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