European Union leaders show divide on gas price cap at energy crisis summit
Global News
After lengthy talks in Brussels dragged well into the night, the 27 EU leaders could not bridge divisions between some of the biggest member states.
European Union leaders struggled to find immediate practical solutions at their summit Thursday called to grapple with the energy crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine and maintain a united front in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin coercion.
After lengthy talks in Brussels dragged well into the night, the 27 EU leaders could not bridge divisions between some of the biggest member states and failed to impose a gas price cap to counter Russia’s strategy to choke off gas supplies to the bloc at will.
They agreed, however, to keep working to find a compromise based on proposals unveiled earlier this week by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which were discussed in depth and tweaked at the summit.
“Unity and solidarity prevail,” said meeting host Charles Michel, the EU Council president. “Agreed to work on measures to contain energy prices for households and businesses.”
Diplomats said the impact of the proposals should be properly assessed by experts before approval, and leaders insisted any deal would need to take into account their different energy mixes.
“You don’t hop on a train without knowing the destination,” a senior diplomat summed it up. He was not authorized to speak publicly on the discussions, in accordance with EU practice.
To make sure the runaway cost of gas doesn’t further tank struggling EU economies, the Commission has proposed a system to pool buying of gas and offered a compromise that would allow for a correction mechanism to kick in in exceptional circumstances.
In addition, it is pushing for the creation of a new LNG gas index better reflecting the market following the drastic reduction of imports of pipeline gas from Russia.