EU Commission to get mandate for bloc's joint gas purchases: Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron
EUleaders have agreed for officials in Brussels to makejointgaspurchasesfor theblocas it struggles with high prices amid Russia's war on Ukraine, French President EmmanuelMacronsaid on Friday.
"What we decided, for the first time, is that the EuropeanCommissionwill have amandateto dojointprocurement, which is exactly what we decided, remember, for vaccines at the time of the Covid crisis,"Macrontold journalists after anEUsummit in Brussels.
Discussions on energy dominated Friday's final session of the two-day summit, which on Thursday was given over to a show of Western unity against Russia by US President Joe Biden participating.
On Friday, Biden and EuropeanCommissionchief Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for Washington and Brussels to work together to source US and other alternative naturalgassources for Europe as it weans itself off Russiangas.
Formal conclusions from the second day of the summit said thejoint-purchasing plan forgasand otherCommissionsteps to mitigate high market prices would be "voluntary" and "time limited".
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Thejointpurchasesofgaswould also be open to Ukraine and other non-EUcountries, including Western Balkans ones and Georgia and Moldova.
EUleaders recognised that, inside thebloc, the needs and energy mixes of thebloc's 27 nations varied widely.
Some, in the east, were deeply dependent on Russiangas, while others such as Spain and Portugal found themselves less connected to the rest of Europe in terms of supply lines.
"It's a bit tricky," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, explaining that it would fall on private companies across Europe that have existing contracts to buygas.
Summit discussions on the issue were very technical and dragged out because, as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte put it, it involves "literally thousands of contracts, hundreds of parties and also has a very big difference between regions, between member states".
TheCommissionhas been told to come back to leaders with a "comprehensive and ambitious plan" on how to phase out Russian coal andgaswhile not exacerbating price hikes by the end of May.
Short-term measures such as energy tax cuts and price capping are to be looked at -- but with the proviso that the fundamentals of market trading were not undercut.
EUofficials admitted that, even with alternativegassources being hunted for, Europe faced a very tight market and supply risks -- especially with the debate over expanding sanctions to Russiangasstill kicking around.
They predicted thatEUleaders would soon have to put forward measures to encourage dampening demand -- something that could be felt by European households next winter as heating bills shoot up.
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