The war in Ukraine sent energy prices skyrocketing all over Europe, EU member states reached a consensus on Friday 25 March to give the European Commission a mandate to carry out joint gas purchases, on the model of orders for anti-Covid vaccines. The 27 and the Commission “will urgently work together on voluntary purchases of gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen”, taking advantage of the economic weight of the EU to benefit from advantageous prices, according to the conclusions of the Brussels summit.
“Group purchasing, the ability to define long contracts together, is the best instrument to bring down prices,” said French President Emmanuel Macron during a press conference. “The Commission can aggregate up to 75% of gas purchases”, either by renegotiating existing contracts or by concluding new ones, said Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the half-yearly presidency of the EU.
” An opportunity “
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his part underlined that participation in the mechanism will be voluntary, unlike the mechanism for joint purchases of vaccines, which excluded orders outside the Commission. “We agreed on the fact that this is an opportunity to cooperate voluntarily for gas purchases,” he observed to the press.