Several countries are demanding a uniform electricity price cap from the EU. The federal government is critical of previous drafts. She wants to treat electricity from renewable energies differently than from nuclear power and coal. An agreement is imminent.
The proposed electricity price cap continues to cause controversy in the European Union. A group of 15 of the 27 EU countries – including France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Poland – have called on the EU Commission to take action to combat high energy prices. They want to introduce a price cap. However, Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten said the instrument could also be designed as a “flexible price corridor”.
The focus on Wednesday was above all a meeting of diplomats from the 27 EU countries, at which the Commission was to present a feasibility study. According to insiders, no legislative proposals were expected, but rather assessments of possible options to bring down the skyrocketing gas prices again.
The federal government is one of the opponents of a uniform price cap. She wants to treat wind and solar power differently than nuclear power or coal. The Netherlands and Denmark are also skeptical.
The EU Commission is planning a price cap of 180 euros per megawatt hour of electricity that is not produced with gas. Since the wholesale prices are currently significantly higher, the difference should be skimmed off as a so-called random profit and used to reduce prices, for example in households and companies. Skeptics in the EU argue that a price cap could come at the expense of much-needed savings. They also fear that countries with a price cap could find it more difficult to procure enough gas on the market in winter.
Another special meeting of EU energy ministers is planned for Friday. According to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, an agreement on an electricity price cap of 180 euros for producers of cheap electricity from wind, solar and nuclear power is imminent. Accordingly, the federal government is said to have asserted itself on a crucial point: it can make the price cap flexible in the future, depending on the type of energy source. The instrument is to be decided on Friday.
