European Union leaders enter a crucial stretch this week to make sure runaway energy prices and short supplies do not further tank their struggling economies and foment unrest. At the same time, they need to keep all 27 members united in their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Leading up to Thursday's start of a key summit, the European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, proposed a blueprint on Tuesday that needs to reconcile the yawning gap between those who want to impose a common gas price cap to keep prices down and those who think it would primarily keep out supplies, further starving industries and businesses.Then, going into the weekend, EU leaders will seek a compromise during two days of talks, however hard that may be.
It didn't take long for EU member countries to realize that the bloc's dependence on Russian energy was a huge political error after Putin invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Feb. 24 and natural gas prices skyrocketed. Amid sanctions imposed on Russia's energy sector, the wealthy bloc of 450 million has since been struggling to find ways to keep freezing temperatures from entering the homes of the poorest and businesses from going down for lack of affordable energy.
Even De Croo, leader of one of the most EU-embracing nations, knows there is no more time to waffle. "The time for excuses has gone. if the EU still wants to be meaningful, contain energy prices and better protect families and businesses in this energy war, it finally has to deliver," he said. The European Commission proposed a compromise that would allow for a temporary correction mechanism to kick in in exceptional circumstances, and the creation of a new LNG gas index better reflecting the market following the drastic reduction of imports of pipeline gas from Russia.
"The possibility of a complete cut-off in Russian gas deliveries cannot be dismissed ahead of the 2022/23 heating season -- when the European gas system is at its most vulnerable," the IEA said. Against such a background of potential social foment, the EU leaders are in line to agree on a system to pool buying of gas to make sure member states stop bidding against one another to boost reserves and push up energy prices overall. Under the commission's proposal, natural gas arriving through the entry points from Russia would be excluded from the plan.
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