LUXEMBOURG, 17 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has shown her confidence to agree this Tuesday on the reform of the electricity market of the European Union with a broad consensus of the Twenty-seven that also includes France and Germany, the most polarized countries in this debate.
“If necessary, we will stay for dinner and sleep but I do not contemplate the possibility of not reaching an agreement today,” he stressed upon his arrival at the meeting of Energy Ministers being held this Tuesday in Luxembourg.
This Monday’s decision requires a qualified majority, which allows reluctant countries to be excluded from pursuing the agreement, although Ribera has ruled out, in principle, this possibility since he would like it to be supported by consensus of all the delegations. “My impression is that there is nothing that prevents this from being the case,” he added.
Ministers will address how to shape prices for consumers and to what extent some mechanisms can contribute and change depending on the energy mix of each country. “This is one of the delicate perspectives that we must address wisely to ensure that we do not create inappropriate frameworks for anyone while ensuring transparency without compromising a level playing field,” said the vice president.
Aware of the complex debate generated by this file, the Spanish presidency aims to be, as the minister explained, “an arbitrator committed to the European interest” but without ceasing to respect the different national realities, as is the case with the large economies of the EU. France and Germany, which may have a “greater sensitivity to the way the text ends up being worded.”
In any case, Ribera considers that the concerns and priorities of the Member States are “well defined” and has been “optimistic” about reaching an agreement, since the consensus is that it is “essential” to close this file as soon as possible.
“I am optimistic and I think that everyone is clear that we must not only reach an agreement but that this must not generate differences, discrepancies or imbalances that break common rules in the entire internal electricity market,” he explained.
This is the seventh proposal that the ministers will work on after their failed attempt at an agreement last June, still under the Swedish presidency of the Council, but which, according to Ribera, already garnered “Important support” at the last meeting. Friday at the ambassador level.
