The energy ministers of the European Union member states agreed today that the gas price cap mechanism will be activated when the price reaches 180 euros per megawatt hour and 35 euros more than the LNG reference price for a period of three consecutive days, according to diplomatic sources.
Only Hungary was against this ceiling, Austria and the Netherlands abstained and Germany supported it. All these countries previously opposed intervention in the gas market and price caps.
The decision does not require consensus, but a qualified majority is sufficient, which means that it must be supported by 55 percent of the member states, i.e. 15 of them, which constitute at least 65 percent of the total population of the Union. The mechanism will be able to enter into force from February 15 of next year.
At their meeting last week, energy ministers failed to agree on gas price caps because the Commission’s proposal, which set the gas price ceiling too high, was unacceptable to most member states.
At the end of November, the European Commission proposed the creation of a market correction mechanism that would be activated when the price on the Dutch gas exchange (TTF) is above 275 euros per megawatt hour for two weeks and 58 euros higher than the LNG reference -‘s. price for ten consecutive days over two weeks.
The Czech presidency came to the meeting with a new proposal according to which the mechanism would be activated when the price of gas reaches 188 euros per megawatt hour in a period of three days.