Italy Hoping EU Gas Price Cap Can Be Negotiated Next Time - Reports

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2022) Italian Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Thursday that an agreement on gas price ceiling can be reached at the next meeting of EU energy ministers on December 13, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

Earlier in the day, EU energy ministers at a meeting in Brussels failed to approve the European Commission's market correction mechanism, "underlining that further detailed work was needed on the proposal". According to reports, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland and Greece were among the biggest opponents to the initiative arguing that it risks undermining the financial stability of the EU and might lead to market speculation.

"Judging by the atmosphere that was here today I can say this (adopting the proposal) is possible, because there is intention from all members to reach the goal and come to an agreement," he said, as quoted by the media.

Pichetto Fratin also noted that during today's talks Italy had suggested to adopt both the Commission's proposal and other terms of the energy package, including solidarity and transparency of gas purchases, as one single bill.

The minister underlined that adopting the regulation mechanism depended in the first place on defining the criteria for the ceiling's activation, not its range, adding that current provisions of the proposal were unacceptable.

On Tuesday, the EC proposed a cap price that would kick in if the front-month price on the Dutch gas exchange TTF exceeds 275 Euros ($286) for two weeks and if, at the same time, TTF prices are 58 euros higher than the liquefied natural gas global reference price for 10 consecutive trading days.