France's Macron-Gas Price Cap Cannot Be Too Low

Wires carrying comments from French President Emmanuel Macron stating that the price cap on natural gas in the EU 'cannot be too low'. The comments come after France and other EU members criticised Commission proposals from November for a cap seen as far too high (at EUR275/mwh).

• There remains significant division within the EU regarding the appropriate level for any cap on natural gas prices, as well as how long prices have to remain above the agreed to price for the cap to be triggered.
• EU energy ministers are set to meet at an extraordinary Council meeting a week today on Tuesday 13 December to make a decision on the cap after they (not unexpectedly) failed to reach a consensus at the previous meeting in November.
• There is a strong possibility that the final decision is once again not reached at the Energy Council meeting, and instead it is passed onto national leaders meeting for a European Council Summit on Thursday 15 December.
• YesterdayBloomberg reported that the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union proposed a reduction in the time for a breach of the cap to trigger the mechanism from two weeks to five days, while the Dutch gov't has proposed different caps for gas going into storage compared to gas going directly into energy production.