If it is not a European theme, it will have to be.
The price of light is triggered throughout the continent, and although Spain and Portugal are those who suffer a higher cost in the wholesale market, there is practically no country that is free.
That is why the government of Pedro Sánchez believes that the EU should do more, make it fast and stop getting profile, because there is a growing risk of a widespread revolt such as the yellow vests and that the support of millions of people to the
Green policies fades.
Last week the Chairperson of the European Commission, Ursula von der Líen, ignored the question in his discourse on the State of the Union, which from Madrid was received with annoyance and interpreted as the need to redouble the pressure.
The strategy has several legs, from promoting the discussion to make an aggressive lobby in defense of the policies adopted from Madrid.
On the one hand, the Chairman of the Government has claimed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, that the question of light appears on the agenda of the next Summit of Heads of State and Government, in October, to be discussed in depth. This has been explained this Tuesday in Brussels the Secretary of State for the EU, Juan González-Barba, before meeting with the community counterparts of him. Sánchez wants him to “launch the debate”, put the light on the political table, that there is a common message, are searched for solutions immediately and stopped facing an issue that can have enormous social repercussions and endanger the support of the Green transition defending the union. “The current crisis is a threat to carbon reduction initiatives. The current price levels and volatility are politically unsustainable. This is not just a problem for national governments, but also for the entire European regulatory framework, which is losing credibility. This situation can cause a violent reaction against carbon reduction initiatives, as has already been seen in France with the crisis of yellow vests. Carbon reduction policies have been understood and accepted in general in Spain, but it is It is possible that they do not support a sustained period of abusive electricity prices, “says the executive in a letter sent to Brussels and his colleagues of the 27.
On the other, Sánchez wants the Commission to take the lead.
The possibilities of action are limited, and not in the short term, but they exist.
Moncloa wants to discuss “what are the causes of the current price rebound” and what parts of European legislation are “susceptible to an improvement” if it is addressed at European level, González-beard has been discussed by Europe Press.
The Executive is deploying in the Community capital its strategy, articulated on the letter sent to the European Commission the Vice-presidents Nadia Calviño and Teresa Ribera. It involves the reform of the operation of the wholesale electricity market and, through what is known as a ‘Non-Paper’, a working document to boost the debate, propose the start-up of a centralized platform for the Purchase of gas, similar in its principles to that used for the purchase of Vaccines against the Covid for the entire EU. “While we can not reduce our dependence on the short term, we can and we must increase our bargaining power. That is why a centralized European platform is necessary to buy natural gas. We have done it successfully with vaccines and we should reproduce this model in other fields Strategic like this. In addition, we could use our greater bargaining power to generate strategic reserves that allow us to mitigate our exposure to the fluctuations of the market, “says the ‘Non-Paper’ Spanish on its four pages.
Rivera and Calviño ask the European Commission initiative, to set a series of guidelines to act at times of panic and volatility. “The Commission should develop guidelines that allow Member States to react accordingly during periods of dramatic tension of the market. If the rules of the game are established at European level, the solutions should also do so. Member States should not have to improvise ad measures hoc Each time the markets work badly, and then expect the Commission not to oppose them. We urgently need a predicted European policies menu to react immediately to dramatic price increases. We are thinking of flexible guidelines developed by the Commission , which should provide different governments, thus increasing certainty for consumers, headlines and governments equally. We must try to anticipate and prepare for any unforeseen reverse that may appear on the road to carbon neutrality “, Read on paper.
In his letter and Proposal Spain not only advocates for change, but takes the opportunity to defend the measures recently approved and to do lobby before the criticism of companies, which have also turned Brussels to try to stop them.
It is the third part of the strategy.
“All national measures introduced recently in Spain fully comply with the EU legal framework,” the executive defends.
“All of them respect the existing marginal price scheme of the European wholesale markets, and most of the measures are only temporary until the current peak of gas prices is alleviated. Spain has fully complied with European standards despite sensitivity
Current crisis policy. Other countries have adopted less orthodox measures and the Commission has maintained a prudent approach. We hope at least similar treatment, “they claim from Madrid in a non-frequent tone.
