Four-part energy crisis plan, gas price cap as last resort

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is tomorrow expected to announce an EU energy-crisis plan based on four axes, as well as a possible price cap on natural gas as a last resort and only for a short period of time, sources have informed.

The leaders of the EU’s 27 member states will go into an EU summit, scheduled this Thursday, for decisions amid a very ambiguous setting.

The European Commission president’s proposal will incorporate, as one of the four axes, the EU’s bargaining power as one collective buying unit for lower-cost natural gas purchases, according to sources.

The plan also includes a solidarity mechanism for emergency gas supply, by fellow member states able to provide cover, at fair price levels, to member states short of sufficiency levels during the forthcoming winter.

The third part of the proposal will, according to the sources, focus on the details of a plan aiming to reduce natural gas demand in the EU by 15 percent this winter.

The fourth part of the European Commission proposal is believed to focus on the establishment of a new European gas benchmark as the TTF, the current benchmark, is shaped by pipeline gas supply and does not take into account the market’s increased LNG penetration.