MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2022) Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not discuss the imposition of price caps on gas during a telephone conversation, the Norwegian cabinet said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Stoere told the Financial Times newspaper that the Norwegian government could agree to a voluntary price cap.
"Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen held a telephone conversation on Wednesday afternoon on the difficult energy situation in Europe... Prime Minister Stoere noted that it is the gas producers who can make agreements with consumers in Europe. Price caps on gas were not a topic of discussion," the cabinet said on the website.
On Wednesday, von der Leyen said that the European Commission will propose a price cap on Russian gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports.
Last Friday, von der Leyen said that the European Union might introduce limits on the price of Russian natural gas after G7 finance ministers confirmed their intention to impose price caps for Russian oil as part of expanded sanctions against the country. Moscow, in turn, pledged to stop exporting Russian oil to the states that would apply the limits.
Since 2021, energy prices in Europe have been growing as part of a global trend of post-COVID recovery. After the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the West, fuel prices have accelerated the growth, pushing many European governments to resort to contingency measures.
As part of the fight against the energy crisis and plans to abandon Russian gas, some EU countries, including Germany and France, are looking into the restoration of coal-fired power plants mothballed for climate protection reasons. This measure has raised concern among climate activists since it contradicts the European Green Deal, adopted in 2019, which aims to cut carbon emissions and build a resource-efficient and eco-friendly economy.
