EU gas cap breakthrough remains on the table 

LAST week’s eighth package of European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia, including an oil price cap, surprised some with its ambition. Yet it is unlikely to be the end of Europe’s big retaliatory measures against Moscow, with energy ministers meeting again this Tuesday (Oct 11) to try to move forward a landmark gas price cap too.

Today, gas prices are nearly four times higher across Europe than a year ago, and more than 11-fold the price in 2020. So the political imperative to act is high. Those pushing for a cap, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, hope that this can be agreed at the next summit of 27 presidents and prime ministers on Oct 20 to 21 – though this may prove an over-optimistic timetable.

However, the momentum behind the gas price cap perplexes many, given the challenges involved in implementing one. Elisabetta Cornago at the Centre for European Reform think tank, for instance, has called the gas idea “a kind of a cry for help”, saying: “The bloc has run out of low-hanging fruit to address the energy crisis and is gradually moving away from orthodoxy, despite the potential perils the shift entails. Member states are looking at prices and quantities in isolation and that’s difficult because of economics. Prices are high because of scarcity.”