Macron plans to convince EU partners of the need for a gas price ceiling
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he intends to soon convince European heads of state of the need for a price ceiling on gas used for electricity generation to stabilise the energy market.
“We will convince the rest of Europeans, at the latest before the EU summit on 20 and 21 October in Brussels. We will implement a system that guarantees a ceiling on the price of the gas we use to produce electricity, which will reduce the price of electricity,” the president said, speaking at a meeting organised by the investment bank Bpifrance with French businessmen.
According to the French leader, this will bring energy market prices as well as gas and electricity contracts “back to a more acceptable level” by the end of October or early November.
Macron specified that the mechanism used by Spain and Portugal, which agreed with the European Commission in April to maintain a price cap on natural gas, “works perfectly”.
The French president added that he would raise the issue at Thursday’s informal meeting of EU heads of state and government in Prague.
Macron believes that Europe needs to be able to produce more electricity on its territory in the coming years.
“Europe needs to have a renewable energy strategy and a nuclear energy strategy to develop. Do we want to become big gas exporters abroad? No, our strategy is to switch to hydrogen energy,” the French leader added.