EU Ambassadors latest draft text, for discussion on Wednesday, calls for the Commission to unveil proposals by end-May on reducing Europe's "dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports", via Politico
Draft conclusions call for:
- Refilling of gas storage as soon as is possible
- Working together, preferably, on the joint purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen.
- On this, a diplomat notes filling gas storage as soon as possible is contradictory to reducing Russian demand, as such a step will likely increase short-term demand for Russian supplies.
Spanish Proposal:
- Temporary wholesale price limit and a mechanism to limit contagion effects of elevated energy prices.
Analysis details (06:29)
On Tuesday:
- EU leaders could endorse taxing windfall profits of energy firms, according to a draft summit statement
- France and "several eastern EU countries" reportedly back the idea of energy price caps with Germany and the Netherlands left to be convinced, according to Journalist Keating. Germany/Netherlands argue that refusing to pay market price could mean suppliers go elsewhere.
Prior to this:
- Support for a EU-wide ban on the purchase of Russian oil is growing inside the bloc, according to diplomats involved in the discussion cited by WSJ, adds "Agreement on any EU ban of Russian crude is far from locked in yet"
- It was reported earlier the EU may refrain from intervening in the bloc’s wholesale energy market amid divisions between member states on the most effective solutions to curb rising energy prices, while other reports noted the EU is to mull an oil embargo on Russia this week with US President Biden set to join talks.
Near-term EU Schedule:
- Wednesday 23rd March - Tripartite Social Summit video conference
- Thursday 24th March - European Council (1/2). US President Biden is to partake in Day One of the meeting.
- Friday 25th March - European Council (2/2)
- Friday 25th March - Euro Summit, occurring after the European Council concludes.
23 Mar 2022 - 06:21- EnergyImportant- Source: Politico
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