EU leaders set to consider gas price cap options, documents show

BRUSSELS – At the European Union summit later this week, wide range of gas price ceiling options, The issue has been divided for weeks, according to new draft conclusions on the Oct. 20-21 summit seen by Reuters.

of The EU’s 27 countries have been stuck for weeks. Europe faces a Russian gas shortage winter, a cost-of-living crisis, and Possibility of recession.

Gas prices surge as Russia cuts flows to Europe The invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions imposed on it have led most EU member states to call for gas price caps, but their design is divided.

Some countries, including Germany, Europe’s largest gas market, remain opposed. They argue that capping prices could lead to higher demand for gas and that countries may struggle to attract supplies from global markets.

The bloc’s executive branch, the European Commission, is due to propose energy measures to deal with the crisis on Tuesday ahead of the summit.

EU diplomats said they were concerned that some countries that support gas capping would not offer the options proposed by the European Commission.

“Irritation is building among Member States,” they said. “So we changed gears and put everything that was floating around… on the table. This is a way to pressure the committee to come up with the most concrete possible proposals.”

The latest draft conclusions indicated that Leaders agreed to “explore a temporary dynamic price corridor” for natural gas until an alternative EU gas price benchmark is implemented.

Belgium, Greece, Italy and Poland want a price corridor for wholesale trade, meaning a price range with a center below market prices.