Austria and the Netherlands have abstained, and Hungary has voted against the proposed gas price cap at the Council of the EU meeting, Climate Minister of Poland Anna Moskwa said on Monday
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2022) Austria and the Netherlands have abstained, and Hungary has voted against the proposed gas price cap at the Council of the EU meeting, Climate Minister of Poland Anna Moskwa said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, EU energy ministers agreed the price ceiling of 180 Euros ($191) per megawatt hour under the market correction mechanism.
"The discussion has lasted all day today. In the first phase, a qualified majority was obtained ... A few hours later, we returned with a compromise. Austria and the Netherlands abstained, Hungary was against, all the remaining countries supported this decision being more or less content," Moskwa said.
The mechanism will apply starting February 15, 2023, and will be monitored by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
On November 22, the European commission proposed a "safety ceiling" of 275 euros for gas futures on the TTF, Europe's main trading hub for natural resources. The commission's proposal has instantly created divisions between EU members and caused caution among market experts. For example, Italy said that the mechanism seemed inefficient and could stimulate speculation, while the Association of European Energy Exchanges (Europex) noted that the cap could force market actors to resort to off-exchange trading, which, in turn, would bring serious risks for the financial stability of the EU. Other EU members stated that the ceiling is too high, since, in the entire history of the TTF, the price of gas futures surpassed 275 euros only for a couple of days in August. This was the third attempt to reach a political agreement on the price cap.
