Maximum cap of €180/MWh on natural gas prices agreed by EU nations

The EU nations reached an agreement to cap the price of gas at €180/MWh.

The countries of the European Union reached an agreement today, Monday, December 19, to establish a price ceiling for natural gas imports at €180/MWh for imports in the Dutch reference index (TTF). It will reportedly come into effect on February 15, 2023. More information will be revealed in a press conference later today.

Press conference at 17:30.

— Dmitrij Černikov (@CZernikovD) December 19, 2022

“I want to thank all my colleagues who have shown the best European spirit today”, commented Josef Sikela, the Minister of Energy of the Czech Republic. His country closes its rotating presidency of the European Council with one of the great debates to have consumed its time these last six months.

I want to thank all my colleagues who today have shown the 🇪🇺 spirit at its best. https://t.co/M2KHmm8DbB

— Jozef Síkela (@JozefSikela) December 19, 2022

Finally, the unanimity that was expected was not achieved. Hungary voted against the deal, while the Netherlands and Austria abstained. Germany was one of the countries most opposed to any cap on gas prices but they agreed to it today at the last minute.

This has been a very long-winded affair over the course of many months and many failures to agree upon a decisive deal that pleased the entire bloc. Months of wrangling between the member states have finally come to an end. “We are speaking about a price cap set at €180. It wasn’t an easy thing to achieve”, confirmed the Maltese Energy Minister, Miriam Dalli.

“Today, we reached an agreement on a proposal for a market correction mechanism to protect citizens & economy against excessively high #EnergyPrices. From the start, there was a common goal: keeping prices under control & securing security of supply. Today, we achieved this goal”, tweeted Tinne van der Straeten, the Belgian energy minister.

¡Por fin! Acabamos de llegar a un acuerdo para establecer un mecanismo que facilite una corrección de precios del gas natural si estos se disparan nuevo.
Another mission impossible accomplished!, dice el ministro @JozefSikela. pic.twitter.com/tewGkCTYUl

— Teresa Ribera 🌹 (@Teresaribera) December 19, 2022

Today, we reached an agreement on a proposal for a market correction mechanism to protect citizens & economy against excessively high #EnergyPrices.

From the start there was a common goal: keeping prices under control & securing security of supply. Today, we achieved this goal. pic.twitter.com/Fmg1fpfTpj

— Tinne Van der Straeten (@TinneVdS) December 19, 2022

We welcome the agreement of #EU ministers on a gas price cap of €180/MWh and which includes a cap on all European hubs. pic.twitter.com/cc1egnjYh3

— Poland in the EU (@PLPermRepEU) December 19, 2022

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