Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the body’s latest package of energy measures on Tuesday.
She noted that the EC agreed on the measures earlier this week with the aim of cushioning the blow of the energy crisis, stressing the importance of EU member states acting as a bloc.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the EC pointed out that EU countries were outbidding each other to fill gas storages. Von der Leyen stressed that bloc members should buy gas together to avoid price hikes caused by competition.
“Aggregation of demand will be mandatory for at least 15% of the volumes needed to fill gas storages,” she noted and added that buying companies “may form a gas purchasing consortium.”
Von der Leyen reminded that gas prices were spiking in August as EU member states outbid each other to fill their respective natural gas storages ahead of the heating season.
Commenting on reliance on Russia, she noted that some bloc members are more dependent on Russian imports than others and added that the situation is most challenging for Central European landlocked countries.
Closely connected system
Von der Leyen warned that, due to integrated supply chains on the EU market, disruptions in one bloc member can have significant impact on its counterparts. For this reason, sharing natural gas in times of crisis is necessary, she added.
EC head expressed dissatisfaction with the low number of solidarity agreements signed between bloc members and noted that the Commission decided to introduce bloc-wide rules to address this.
As for supply from Russia, von der Leyen pointed out that volumes imported via pipelines were down 80% annually in September, but stressed that the EU found alternatives.
She reminded that the gas price benchmark in Europe is the Dutch TTF, which is focused on pipeline gas. As the EU turns away from Russian imports via pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming more important.
“We need a new, specific price benchmark for LNG… the Commission will now develop this complementary benchmark together with the European regulator,” von der Leyen announced.
She noted that the EC will limit prices via TTF as a stop-gap measure.
