London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

EU countries still split by ‘different views’ on gas cap

EU countries still split by ‘different views’ on gas cap

The first-ever EU cap on gas prices still has a long way to go.
The 27 countries are split by “different views” around the unprecedented proposal, which aims to set a maximum price on the daily transactions taking place in the gas market.

The cap will apply to the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe’s leading trading hub, and other similar venues, and will act as an emergency ceiling to prevent cases of extreme speculation and volatility.

The actual price range is yet to be defined.

“Here, as you can imagine, we have rather different views on the [TTF] mechanism,” said Czech Energy Minister Jozef Síkela said on Tuesday at the end of a meeting of energy ministers in Luxembourg.

Síkela did not mention countries by name but it is understood that some states, like Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands, are reluctant to cap gas prices at EU level while others, like Belgium, Greece, Poland and Italy, support an even broader cap that would also encompass gas imports.

“The main question is how to make sure that capping will still allow us to buy the gas we need on the market,” Síkela said, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for energy, said the TTF limit could be used “immediately” once countries endorse the proposal, which is still in the works.

“As we develop this short-term tool, we must ensure security of supply and avoid an increase in gas consumption,” Simson told reporters.

The price cap is part of a new package of extraordinary measures to address the energy crisis, which also features joint purchases of gas supplies and automatic solidarity rules to cope with shortages.

The package was discussed by EU leaders during a summit in Brussels last week and then sent back to energy ministers to debate the technical details.

Síkela said ministers “widely supported” the idea of joint procurement and “welcomed” the solidarity rules but they raised questions and expressed concerns regarding the price cap.

“We have to introduce measures that will please, if possible, all member states,” he said.

As officials gathered in Luxembourg, Europe’s gas prices continued to decrease. Trading fell below €100 per megawatt-hour for the first time since mid-June.

Asked if this downward trend could dampen the momentum around the gas cap, Síkela said “the game is not over” as there is still uncertainty over the upcoming winter season.

“Because the game is not over we need to have an emergency measure, regardless of where we are in the [price] curve,” the Czech minister said, referring to the TTF mechanism.

An extraordinary meeting will be convened on Nov. 24 with the aim of approving the new package.

Another point of contention during the ministerial meeting was the possibility of extending the so-called Iberian model to the entire European Union.

The model, introduced this year by Spain and Portugal, is a state aid program that partially covers the high price of gas used to produce electricity.

The subsidy is given to gas-fired power plants and compensates for the difference between the real market price and the capped price. This results in lower bills for consumers and companies.

The European Commission believes applying this system to the whole EU would bring about €13 billion in net benefits but warns of significant hurdles and “political challenges” to make it happen.

Under the subsidy, gas demand could increase between 5 and 9 billion cubic meters (bcm), the Commission said in its latest non-paper.

Cheap electricity could leak outside the EU and enter the UK and Switzerland, two countries deeply interconnected with their neighbors.

As a state aid program, the Iberian exception is poised to entail high costs for countries that rely very heavily on gas-fired power plants, such as Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.

Eastern, Nordic and Baltic countries might also enjoy fewer benefits from the measure, given their disparate energy mixes. Meanwhile, France would be the “biggest net beneficiary,” the executive estimated.

Additionally, an EU-wide subsidy program would require the creation of a new system to redistribute costs among the countries according to the benefits it offers.

“It’s up to member states if they will find a solution, especially on how to address flows to third countries or how to agree on the cost-sharing principles,” Commissioner Simson said, in response to a question from Euronews.

However, given the myriad of obstacles presented in the non-paper, it’s still unclear when the executive will be able to table a legislative proposal.

The text, if ever unveiled, is expected to be subject to intense and prolonged negotiations among the 27 states.

In the non-paper, the Commission offers an alternative avenue: a new type of long-term contract that would apply only to renewables and nuclear plants in order to prevent the contagion effect from gas prices.

These so-called “contracts for difference” are already being used in the UK to address the energy crisis.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×