Spain i Portugal have closed a political agreement with the European Commission to limit the price of gas to an average of 50 euros per MWh. This was announced by the third vice president of the Spanish government and minister of Ecological Transition, Theresa Riveraand its Portuguese counterpart, Joseph Duarte, at a press conference following the meeting at which the agreement with the European executive was closed. The political agreement stipulates that the mechanism will be in force for the next 12 months and that the initial price of gas will be 40 euros. According to Ribera, there are still some issues that need to be closed, but he pointed out that the measure could be “materialized” in the May electricity bill.
In the presentation of the agreement after meeting with the European Commissioner of Competition, Margrethe Vestager, Ribera said that this is a “balanced” pact given the “complexity of the process”. The proposal presented by Spain and Portugal on March 31 called for limiting the price of gas to 30 euros, less than the agreement with Brussel les. “Overall, (the agreement) is positive for consumers,” said Ribera. The intention of the Spanish government, explained the vice president, is to bring the mechanism to the next Council of Ministers so that the reduction can be applied “immediately” and can already be seen on the electricity bill for the month of May.
Spain and Portugal must now send the formal proposal to the European Commission with the changes agreed during the meeting, which Ribera has planned can be done this week. The proposal must then be given the green light by the European executive. For Ribera, the gas price cap is an “important tool that reduces exposure to turbulence and market volatility” and “protects all consumers.”
Interconnections
According to Ribera, the meeting with the European Commission addressed the lack of energy interconnections between the peninsula Iberian and the rest of the continent, one of the arguments of Spain and Portugal to ask to be able to take measures to restrain the price of the energy. In this sense, the third vice-president of the Spanish government has stated that the European Commission has “committed” itself to being a “much more active actor” to “monitor compliance with the interconnection objectives”. “The weight of the interconnections is now more important than it has been so far,” he said.