EU countries should use their “collective bargaining power” to secure affordable gas supplies ahead of next winter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today.
Speaking at the close of an informal summit in Prague where EU leaders discussed measures to tackle the energy supply crisis, von der Leyen said it was of crucial importance to avoid a scenario in which EU countries compete for gas supplies and drive up prices on the international gas market.
EU-wide gas storage is now at 90 percent, but there are growing fears that the Continent won’t be able to reach similar levels ahead of winter 2023.
“There is broad support that next spring, at the end of the winter when our storages will be depleted, it is of paramount importance that we have a joint procurement of gas so that we avoid [outbidding] each other [and] have a collective bargaining power,” von der Leyen said.
Speaking at the same press conference, European Council President Charles Michel said the bloc would need to “organize public procurement of energy supplies” before the summer storage-filling season.
“We came back to the subject today and there is increasing support for this idea,” Michel said.
Von der Leyen added that the Commission would bring forward more detailed proposals for interventions into the energy market to protect consumers and businesses — including some form of price market price limit on gas — ahead of the European Council summit on October 21 and 22.
