Energy Minister: EU countries will block EC's proposals with no gas price cap

"We have been talking about a gas price cap during probably two or three Energy Councils now, and now we are talking about a gas corridor (a dynamic gas price corridor - BNS). The Commission has committed to present a regulation with this included at the extraordinary Energy Council meeting on November 24. However, so far we, member states, have not seen in the proposals the promised specific legal solutions on this corridor," Kreivys said at the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday.

"The mood is that the absolute majority of countries are willing to block the Commission regulation altogether if it contains no cap. The intention is rather strong, and we hope the Commission still has time to hear this," the minister added.

In October, EU leaders met in Brussels. They agreed to call on the Commission and energy ministers to come up with specific solutions on a price cap for gas used for electricity generation, including a cost-benefit analysis, as well as a temporary dynamic gas price corridor.

The EC has so far failed to propose a price cap on gas used for electricity generation. In October, it proposed to introduce a dynamic price cap for gas, but only for transactions on the Dutch TTF exchange, and not for all wholesale gas purchases or electricity generation.