Romania appreciates the proposal regarding the price regulation mechanism on the energy market and believes that its implementation should be flexible and fast in order to achieve the European objective of reducing the price of gas, and implicitly, of electricity for consumers, says the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Energy, Dan-Dragoş Drăgan. He attended the Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
On the agenda of the meeting were the debate of the measures from the new package proposed by the European Commission on October 18, 2022 regarding natural gas prices, as well as discussions on the legal rules regarding the regulation of the hydrogen market under negotiation at the Council level.
“Regarding the excessive natural gas prices, EC proposes the introduction of price limits on derivatives trading platforms, the formation of a new reference index to reflect LNG transactions and the establishment of a correction mechanism for gas trading prices in case of need. Romania appreciates the proposal regarding this price regulation mechanism in the market and believes that its implementation should be flexible and fast in order to achieve the European objective of reducing the price of gas, and implicitly, electricity for consumers,” it is shown in a post on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Energy.
In the context of the current energy crisis, the member states debated possible measures with urgent application to improve the high prices of electricity and natural gas, on the side of the new package proposed by the Commission. The package includes a communication on the energy emergency, options for market intervention, and winter preparation as well as a proposal for a Council Regulation aimed at new market stabilization measures, joint procurement of natural gas and solidarity between MS.
“Romania welcomed the objective of operationalizing the European energy platform for the joint purchase of natural gas in the first part of 2023 to be used in the framework of the steps to refill the deposits for the winter of 2023-2024. The technical elements regarding the operation of the platform are being negotiation at the level of the MS,” states the quoted source.
According to the Ministry of Energy, in the medium term, Romania, together with other member states, has reaffirmed its support for a price cap on all transactions with natural gas on the European market, a measure that would include the gas used for the production of electricity, for heating and for industrial applications.
At the same time, Romania requested the elaboration by the European Commission of such a mechanism as soon as possible in order to obtain an effective reduction in prices as well as the modification of the design of the electricity market to allow the decoupling of the price of natural gas from the price of electricity.
In the immediate next period, the member states will negotiate the draft Council Regulation on the implementation of these measures with a view to obtaining a political agreement at the end of November 2022.