At present, at least 15 EU countries support the joint implementation of the natural gas price cap, but Germany, France, Hungary and other countries are opposed to the price cap.
The EU Autumn Energy Summit was held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, from the 20th to the 21st, focusing on various measures to limit the cost of natural gas. After a marathon discussion, although EU countries “reached an agreement” on a number of countermeasures on energy issues, key differences such as the price cap on imported natural gas remain. In addition, on the issue of Russia-Ukraine conflict and China policy, there is also a large “temperature difference” in the positions of EU countries.
The price limit issue is too divergent
According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 21st, European Council President Michel said at a press conference in the early morning that after 11 hours of discussions, the EU summit had “reached an agreement” on energy issues, and countries “strongly agreed to The consensus was that “three goals need to be acted together: lower prices, secure supply, and continued demand reduction. According to the summit statement, the leaders of the 27 EU countries agreed to a number of emergency energy measures previously proposed by the European Commission, including joint procurement of natural gas, implementation of a price cap on the European natural gas benchmark price, and coordination of energy supply among EU member states. In addition, there is broad support for “price caps on natural gas used for power generation.”
However, due to the firm opposition of Germany, the Netherlands and other countries, this summit still failed to reach a consensus on the implementation of price caps on all imported natural gas that some member states have strongly promoted, differences within the EU remain on this key issue. European Commission President Von der Leyen said that the EU will continue to study the issue of “price caps”. EU energy ministers are expected to continue consultations on the issue at a meeting on the 25th of this month. According to reports,At present, at least 15 EU countries support the joint implementation of the natural gas price cap, but Germany, France, Hungary and other countries are opposed to the price cap。Associated Presscommented that,EU countries are so divided on gas price caps that agreeing to further explore the plan proposed by the European Commission is seen as “an achievement” in itself.
It is worth noting that GermanyPrime MinisterScholz’s attitude towards the natural gas price cap has changed. The British “Financial Times” said that Scholz still said on the 20th that the EU’s implementation of natural gas price caps may be counterproductive. However, after the EU summit, Scholz admitted that a price cap on natural gas “makes sense” and that “we have discussed the possibility of limiting (gas) price spikes, and there is still a lot of concrete work to be done.” In addition, Hungary After obtaining an exemption from the EU’s oil embargo against Russia, it once again won the “privilege” on the natural gas issue for the country.HungaryPrime MinisterOrban said on the 20th that Hungary negotiated something at the EU summit, that is, the country will be exempted from the EU’s natural gas price cap and collective purchase of natural gas.
Some countries are more cautious about Russia and Ukraine
“After EU countries choose to seek common ground while reserving differences on natural gas price caps, turn to foreign policy issues”,ReutersOn the 21st, the agency reported on this topic that the EU summit on the day mainly discussed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the issue of China policy.On the issue of Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Baltic Seanational leaderAt the summit on the 21st, he called on the EU to set up a “special court” and prosecute the Russian leader for “aggression against Ukraine”. The proposal is supported by the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, but other EU member states are more cautious about the proposal, the report said.
According to the statement issued by the EU summit on the 21st, the participating parties failed to reach a consensus on further sanctions against Russia promoted by some member states, and no new sanctions against Russia were introduced at the meeting. Von der Leyen announced on the same day that the EU will provide about 1.5 billion euros in aid to Ukraine every month, and 18 billion euros in 2023.
‘We European countries are too complacent’
According to the report, China policy was put on the agenda of the EU summit for the first time in 12 months. According to a report by Bloomberg on the 21st, Belgian Prime Minister De Crowe said before the meeting that day: “In the past, as a European country, we were too complacent, and in the past few months, we have learned that in many purely economic fields, geopolitics also plays an important role. “It’s normal for us to have a relationship with China, but as always, it’s a very diverse relationship on different topics,” De Crowe said.In addition, EstoniaPrime MinisterKaras and LatviaPrime MinisterCallins separately claimed before the meeting that on relations with China, it is better to “speak with one voice” and that “any separate agreement with China will weaken the EU”.
According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 21st, Michel said the same day that the EU seeks to avoid direct confrontation with China. “Today’s discussion shows a very clear ‘will to avoid naivety’, but we also do not want to enter the logic of systemic confrontation.”Hongkong《South China Morning Post“Even though the EU’s foreign ministry called for urgent action and a tougher stance on China in an internal memo before the summit, the EU is already overwhelmed with resolving a series of internal crises, and the topic of China may not be the top issue.
Authors of this article: Niu Ruifei, Aoki, Liu Zhi, source: Global Times, original title: “EU summit reached a difficult agreement on energy, and key differences such as import natural gas price limit remain”
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