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By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) – A dozen international locations together with Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovenia have made a push to “considerably” decrease a deliberate European Union cap on fuel costs, because the bloc struggles to strike a deal on the measure.
EU international locations are holding emergency negotiations on Saturday as they try to line up a deal to cap fuel costs at a Dec. 13 assembly of their vitality ministers – however states stay cut up over the plan.
Twelve of the EU’s 27 member states have circulated a paper demanding that the value cap be “considerably” decrease than the newest compromise being negotiated by international locations.
“The textual content has not gone far sufficient in the direction of what we might contemplate a passable compromise,” they mentioned.
The paper, seen by Reuters, was put ahead by Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
EU international locations have wrangled for months over whether or not to cap fuel costs, however have to this point did not bridge the hole between their divergent views.
Some diplomats are sceptical a deal might be reached subsequent week, and level out that international locations sad with the newest proposal have sufficient help to dam it from being accepted.
Fuel costs in Europe have soared this 12 months after Russia slashed fuel deliveries following its invasion of Ukraine, pushing up gasoline prices and stoking inflation.
However whereas pro-cap international locations say the measure would protect their economies from excessive vitality prices, Germany – Europe’s largest economic system and fuel market – and the Netherlands have opposed a fuel worth cap, warning it might disrupt the traditional functioning of vitality markets and deter fuel producers from sending much-needed gasoline to Europe.
The most recent draft proposal being thought of by international locations, seen by Reuters, would see the cap triggered if costs exceeded 220 euros ($231.66) per megawatt hour for 5 days on the front-month contract within the Dutch Title Switch Facility (TTF) fuel hub, and had been additionally 35 euros increased than a reference worth for liquefied pure fuel (LNG) based mostly on current LNG worth assessments.
That’s decrease than the 275 eur/MWh restrict proposed by the |European Fee, however the 12 international locations mentioned it was nonetheless not low sufficient. ($1 = 0.9497 euros) (Reporting by Kate Abnett; Modifying by Marine Strauss and Mike Harrison)
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