Subject: Controlling fossil gas prices, a price ceiling and inquiry into possible market manipulation
The pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine have caused fossil gas prices to soar out of control, with gas prices now standing at four times their December 2021 level. Difficulties in storing gas from Russia, owing to cuts in supply and the volatility of energy costs, have created a dangerous and constant rise in inflation in Europe.
Steps must be taken to address concerns surrounding the EU’s sizeable exposure to international gas markets and vulnerability to some individual suppliers as well as attempts to manipulate the market and engage in false speculation.
In light of this:
1. What findings emerged from the investigations into manipulation of the gas market, and the Dutch OTC in particular?
2. How will the Commission support the request by many Member States for a price ceiling to be imposed in trading in natural gas?
3. What steps have been planned to protect the EU market from volatility on the international gas market and from speculative behaviour, the repercussions of which affect the whole of the EU’s economic and social fabric?
Answer given by Ms Simson on behalf of the European Commission
(18 August 2022)
Since autumn 2021, the Commission has been looking into allegations of possible anti-competitive conduct by companies producing and supplying natural gas to Europe with a view to verifying whether anti-competitive commercial conduct by market participants constitutes a cause for the gas price crisis in Europe. In this context, inspections were carried out in spring 2022.
The Commission’s investigation is ongoing and is pursued as a matter of priority. In addition, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) constantly monitors the situation on wholesale energy markets to make sure that they are transparent and well functioning.
The Commission is analysing the impact of price ceiling designs for natural gas, in line with the mandate of the May European Council. All possibilities need to be carefully pondered, including the attractiveness of the EU to attract LNG deliveries, currently key to our security of supply.
The communication of 18 May 2022 (1) provided further guidance on price caps and linked the possibility of an administrative price for gas limited to the period of a declared Union emergency.
The Commission also suggested some short-term measures (2), to tackle effectively the impact of sustained high energy prices on consumers and companies.
For the gas market, these include notably the temporary extension of retail price regulation to companies. Also, the Commission is working intensively on diversification of gas supply, notably through the setting-up of the EU Energy Platform to aggregate gas demand.
The Commission also identified options for the optimization of the internal energy market on the longer term. The Commission will carry out an impact assessment and a public consultation to further analyse these options.
⋅1∙ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of
18.5.2022 on Short-Term Energy Market Interventions and Long Term Improvements to the Electricity Market Design — a course for action (COM(2022) 236). ⋅2∙ Ibid .
