“The cap should be applied to all wholesale natural gas transactions, and not limited to import from specific jurisdictions,” the member states said in a letter signed by Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
"The price cap ... is the one measure that will help every member state to mitigate the inflationary pressure, manage expectations and provide a framework in case of potential supply disruptions, and limit the extra profits in the sector,” the letter said. “This cap is the priority.”
The document comes in the lead-up to Friday's meeting of EU energy ministers.
The pressure for an EU-wide price cap on gas imports was ramped up after energy prices in August reached a record high of EUR 346 per megawatt-hour.
But Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands say such a price cap could endanger the security of supply by undermining the EU's ability to attract gas deliveries this season, the Reuters news agency reported.
Russia has cut gas deliveries to the bloc since the West imposed sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Danish and Swedish authorities reported leaks in the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, close to the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
The Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) said it had detected two "strong underwater explosions" on Monday, in the area where the Nord Stream leaks had been discovered.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters