The European Commission, Executive of the European Union (EU), received this Friday the mandate of the 27 countries of the bloc to make joint purchases of gas, in order to contain the rise in prices fueled by the war in Ukraine, reported French President Emmanuel Macron.
"We have decided, for the first time, that the European Commission will have a mandate for joint purchases, which is exactly what we decided, as you may recall, on vaccines" against covid-19, French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference.
Joint purchasing, the ability to define long-term contracts together, is the best tool to reduce the price of gas"he added.
Energy discussions dominated the final day of a two-day European summit, which in the first session had focused on Western unity against Russia, with the participation of US President Joe Biden.
On Friday morning, Biden and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the plans of Washington and Brussels in joint work to obtain alternative sources of natural gas for Europe.
The formal conclusions of the summit indicate that the joint gas purchase plan and other steps of the European Commission to mitigate the high market prices would be "volunteers" and for a limited period.
Joint gas purchases would also be open to Ukraine and other non-EU countries, including from the Western Balkans, Georgia and Moldova.
EU leaders acknowledged that, within the bloc, the energy needs of the 27 member countries vary widely.
Some countries are heavily dependent on Russian gas while others – such as Spain and Portugal – are less interconnected with the rest of Europe in terms of supply lines.
Summit discussions on the issue were highly technical, lengthy and at times reached moments of tension.
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, said that the issue involves "literally thousands of contracts, hundreds of parts and there is also a very big difference between regions, between Member States".
Thus, the leaders commissioned the European Commission to draw up a "comprehensive and ambitious plan" by the end of May on how to phase out Russian coal and gas in a way that does not drive price increases.