EU eyes gas price cap in case of Russian supply cut – Welt am Sonntag

BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Commission wants to waive EU competition rules to allow governments to cap prices for consumers in the event of a complete outage of Russian gas supplies, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday, citing a commission document on “short-term energy market interventions”.

According to the document, European Union member states should be allowed to regulate consumer prices for a transitional period to protect them from spiking even before an acute shortage, Welt reported.

“The financing of this intervention requires significant sums,” the newspaper quoted the document as saying.

In March, the EU warned that seeking to cap wholesale gas prices would cause problems and undermine efforts to shift to green energy.

The European Commission is due to unveil a detailed plan this month to quit Russian fossil fuels by 2027, in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which supplies 40% of EU gas.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Marguerita Choy)