"Steps forward", according to Prime Minister Mario Draghi, during the long day of work at the European Council, the final agreement of which was as follows: within the next two months the Commission will study, together with the Energy Ministers and those directly involved - oil, electricity and distribution companies - solutions to complement the obligation of 90% storage and joint purchases of energy, including a ceiling on the price of gas.
The urgency of Putin's war on Ukraine requires giving "rapid" responses to mitigate the economic impact of the conflict, said the prime minister: "Now we will do the Def, we will see" the next direct measures to help families and businesses. In the meantime, "we are looking for peace, I am looking for it, really, and the other European leaders, in particular French and German, are also looking for it," he said. "They have had, and I will have, talks with Putin. This is the first important thing to keep in mind. We are not at war because we are following a war destiny. We want peace above all. "
The premier has been the spokesperson for a request common to the countries of Southern Europe, and explains to the leaders that it is necessary to immediately give a "political" signal to Moscow: Europe is determined to achieve independence from gas as soon as possible Russian and is not interested in blackmailing payments in rubles to evade sanctions. "Now the Commission will see the legal aspects" but in the meantime "we do not expect a reduction in supply", reassures Draghi, announcing that in Rome the plan for the diversification of sources will be ready in a couple of weeks and that in the meantime Minister Roberto Cingolani has given Snam a mandate to "buy two more regasifiers" offshore, capable of absorbing the extra LNG arriving from the US. Two "floating ships and not on the ground" because "it would take more time", explains the premier, convinced that "we will be able to diversify rapidly up to 30-50% and then instead, as we get closer to 100%, it will become more and more hard".
To do this, we need to work immediately, even at EU level, to establish price cap mechanisms, together with those to "unpack" the price of energy from the price of gas, giving the Commission the objective of preparing a proposal by May " detailed ".
(Unioneonline / D)
