The war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia have caused a shock to the prices of oil, gas and electricity. But, since February, Europe has reacted slowly, weakened by the divergent interests of member countries.
However, there is urgency.
This summit is “the most important for a long time” warned Prime Minister Alexander De Croo this week. If it does not lead to a “clear political signal that we have the will to no longer tolerate high gas prices”, it will be “the failure of Europe”, he said.
Thousands of European companies fear for their survival, threatened by competition in the United States or in Asia where prices have remained wiser. In Germany and France, demonstrations brought together thousands of people against the high cost of living.
A tete-a-tete between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled for early afternoon to try to iron out their differences just before the meeting begins.
Several diplomats expect very long discussions between the 27 heads of state and government.
In an interview with AFP, the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, openly criticized the work of the European Commission.
“The proposals are still a little timid: we still lack concrete measures on a large majority of subjects. There has certainly been a real effort for a year (…) but it is frustrating to see how much the reaction of Europe in the face of the challenge we face is slow and laborious,” she said.
At the last summit in Prague, in early October, several leaders had bullied the German president of the European executive, Ursula von der Leyen. The head of the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki, had notably accused him of representing German interests. “Seven months late is worth a recession,” Italian Mario Draghi told him, according to comments reported to AFP.
– “Go faster” –
But the President of the Commission is confronted with the divisions of the Twenty-Seven which each have their own energy mix, some relying on nuclear power, others on gas or even coal to produce their electricity.
They are divided in particular on the question of a cap on the price of gas used to produce electricity. A device of this type is already applied in Spain and Portugal, where it has helped to bring prices down.
Several countries, including France, are asking for this mechanism, known as “Iberian”, to be extended to EU level.
But Germany opposes it, as well as several Nordic countries, including Denmark and the Netherlands, reluctant to state intervention in the markets.
Berlin believes that artificially lowering the price of gas would harm the objective of energy sobriety, by encouraging people to consume more.
A draft summit conclusion, however, called on the Commission to prepare a proposal for this instrument. “The Iberian model deserves to be studied. Questions remain unanswered, but I do not want to overlook any leads,” Ms von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
“It is important to go a little faster on this subject. We should not have to ask the Commission for the same thing four times to have a proposal,” said Teresa Ribera.
A ceiling on the price of imports is discarded for the time being. Setting a maximum price “always carries the risk that producers then sell their gas elsewhere, and that we Europeans end up with less gas instead of more”, insisted Olaf Scholz in front of the Bundestag a few hours before the start of the Mountain peak.
Mrs von der Leyen detailed this week other proposals: the organization of joint gas purchases, new rules to try to impose the sharing of gas in Europe to help the countries most in difficulty or even a reform of the gas market index TTF (the European “Gas Exchange”), used as a reference in the transactions of the operators.
“There has been a lot of progress, but no fundamental breakthrough,” admits a European diplomat. “Priorities differ: Germany favors security of supply because it can afford high prices, but many countries cannot meet these costs.”
