'Deal': EU green lights first-ever cap for gas prices in bid to tackle energy crisis
After months of political bickering that has seen a dizzying succession of draft proposals, joint letters, emergency meetings and increasingly exasperated statements, the European Union on Monday approved the first-ever cap on gas prices.
EU ministers hammered out a deal on the cap during the last Energy Council of the year in Brussels.
"Another mission impossible accomplished," Czech Trade Minister Jozef Síkela told reporters.
"To agree today was not only our obligation," he said. "Most importantly it was our duty towards our citizens and businesses who were waiting for us to act."
The unprecedented measure is aimed at curbing energy prices as the bloc reels from a crisis exacerbated by Russia's decision to stop supplying the EU with fossil fuels to retaliate against sanctions over its war in Ukraine.
The cap, as approved by ministers, will be triggered when gas prices reach €180 per megawatt-hour during at least three consecutive trading days.
This is a significant shift from the initial proposal by the European Commission which planned for the cap to be activated when gas prices reach €275/MWh for 10 consecutive days.
Prices traded last week at around €135 per megawatt-hour.
The gas cap, which is to be implemented on 1 February and come into force on 15 February, will however come with stringent conditions attached and safeguards for suspension in case it backfires.
EU officials had previously described it as an instrument of “deterrence” aimed at preventing the most excessive episodes of volatility and speculation.
The cap is to apply to the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe's leading hub for gas trading, and other similar venues. The prices set every day at the TTF have a strong influence on the bills that companies and
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