ENERGY
Denmark says it is retaining an option to veto an EU cap on the price of gas.
Published: 21 October 2022 16:36 CEST
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (L) speaks with Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (R) ahead of a meeting on the second day of a EU leaders Summit at The European Council Building in Brussels on October 21, 2022. Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP/Ritzau Scanpix
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark could scupper an EU gas price cap after a meeting with EU government leaders in Brussels on Friday.
EU countries have agreed to look further into the possibility of implementing a price cap following the summit.
Copenhagen, like governments in Germany and the Netherlands, is reported to be concerned over economic consequences of a price cap.
Although all EU member states have agreed to look further into a possible model for the cap, Denmark will retain its option to stop it, Frederiksen said.
“The EU Commission and energy ministers must now work on a proposal for a price cap. When the energy ministers meet, they work with a qualified majority. Some countries thereby risk being voted down on what is most important for us all at the moment: the security of individual families,” Frederiksen is quoted as saying by Danish news wire Ritzau.
“But we have extraordinarily agreed that the qualified majority may not be used by the energy ministers. So if the ministers can’t agree, the question goes back to the prime ministers. And we only work with unanimity,” she said.
A requirement for unanimity could prove decisive given 15 of the 27 EU countries have backed a price cap in some form.
But Denmark can decide to stop the price cap at a prime minister’s EU summit if Frederiksen – or a successor, should she lose the forthcoming election – sees the measure as a potentially costly one for Denmark.
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Such a situation could occur in the likely scenario that a cap on gas prices for consumers is financed by the EU itself.
Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are among countries to have expressed concerns that the cap could result in gas companies selling stocks outside of the EU.
This could be avoided by the EU making up the difference between the capped price and the market price. A large cost for governments could eventually be passed on to taxpayers.
“Danes are hit hard at the moment. So it would be completely wrong to make a model where Danes have to pay for something that is generally happening somewhere else,” Frederiksen said.
Other models could receive Danish support, however.
“I would much rather see us sit down and look at what unused funding there is in the EU system that could benefit consumers,” she said.
The energy summit between EU countries on Friday also resulted in an agreement over joint purchasing of energy.
“Overall it is a very good agreement for European consumers and businesses,” Frederiksen said.