Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is going to Brussels today for the Summit dedicated to the energy crisis. At the European Council, he will reiterate that the EU must send a clear, unified message to the energy markets that it will protect its citizens and businesses from extreme price fluctuations and that it needs to act decisively, now having in its arsenal a mechanism to set a limit on the price of gas.
The government considers the package of proposals presented by the European Commission to be positive, an important step towards a European response to the problem, which requires a comprehensive response, as Kyriakos Mitsotakis had underlined in March in his letter, which included a six-point plan, to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Prime Minister will support the European Commission's package of proposals in order to proceed to the implementation stage, once approved by the Council of Energy Ministers, in order to finalise the technical details of the price correction mechanism.
The fact that the price of gas is falling is partly linked to the fact that the debate in the EU on the price cap remains open.
The Maximou Mansion recalls that after the publication of the proposals, Mitsotakis said «I welcome the proposal of the President of the European Commission with a comprehensive package that includes two proposals that Greece had made long ago: a price correction mechanism in the TTF and limiting fluctuations in the energy derivatives markets. The upcoming European Council is an opportunity to restore control in the energy markets by setting a limit on prices and reducing extreme fluctuations. This can be a decisive step in our efforts to bring down energy prices for European citizens and businesses.
They also point out that the first point of the proposed package, based on the Greek proposal for a cap on the wholesale price of gas, is the proposal for a price correction mechanism on the energy exchange TTF, a benchmark for energy transactions, so that households and businesses are not affected by excessive price fluctuations. Already in March, Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined that these fluctuations are a distortion of the market and do not correspond to supply and demand.
Government sources believe that this is the essence of the proposal made by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his letter to the President of the European Commission, proposing the imposition of a cap, which has been reintroduced on the initiative of other leaders and has received support from several member states.
The Commission will request a mandate to draw up a new regulation, which will allow it to formulate a price correction mechanism, to impose a dynamic price limit (cap) for trading on the TTF for a certain period of time. As he said: «The price correction mechanism will establish, on a temporary basis, a dynamic price limit for transactions on the TTF. Transactions at a price higher than the dynamic limit will not be allowed to take place on the TTF.».
Government sources add that the second point based on a Greek proposal (also included in the Prime Minister's six-point plan) is about tackling excessive volatility in the markets. This is a mechanism to smooth out, through a temporary mechanism, the daily price volatility in order to prevent extreme changes within a short period of time («circuit breaker»). The aim is to limit large short-term price changes in electricity and gas derivatives exchanges.
Athenian - Macedonian News Agency, N. Armenis
