Pichetto Fratin: High energy prices are our priority

Brussels – High prices and security of supply were top issues on the agenda at the European Union Energy Council meeting today in Brussels. It was the first opportunity for ministers from the twenty-seven EU countries to discuss the Affordable Energy Action Plan presented by the European Commission on February 26 along with the Clean Industrial Deal. Two texts that found favour with the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, albeit with some emphases.

“High energy prices are the priority for us, and “we look with concern at price differentials with other countries in the European Union and in the Union itself with respect to non-EU countries and the effects they have on the competitiveness of our companies, our citizens and families,” Pichetto said in the floor debate to his European colleagues.

“The measures of the Clean Industrial Deal and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy are positive, but they give medium- and long-term results. We need interventions that can lower prices in the short term,” he noted. On this plan, “Italy is ready to contribute” and already has some ideas. For example, “we believe it is important to act promptly in negotiating the proposed revision of the storage regulation”. This regulation was adopted in 2022, it will end on December 31 of this year and requires that at least 90 per cent of the underground gas storage capacities in the territory of member states be reached by November 1 of each year.

In the proposed revision, Italy calls for “introducing more flexibility in the implementation of filling obligations” of storages “and avoiding speculation that has generated high spread values between winter and summer prices.” In addition, Italy “strongly supports the Commission’s stated objective of encouraging the decoupling of electricity prices from the natural gas market through the spread of long-term contracts, PPAs and contracts for difference. But even these are not immediate,” Pichetto stressed.

Concerning the security of supply, for the minister, “the changed and uncertain geopolitical context, with gas flows in Europe today heading from west to east and no longer in the opposite direction, requires us to review the current regional dimension of security and ensure an adequate level of risk preparedness in the event of gas supply disruptions.” For Pichetto, “it would be desirable to reduce the administrative burden on member states in terms of reporting requirements and results, both for the electricity and gas sectors.” More generally, then, what emerges is “the opportunity to address a topic of great interest such as the revision of the EU energy security architecture.” Here, according to Pichetto, “it would be appropriate to work on a joint revision of both Regulations, both of the gas and electricity sectors, also to prevent a lack of coordination when needed.”

Finally, “special attention” must be on the cybersecurity risks associated with the further digitization of energy networks and infrastructures, while on the security of Europe’s critical energy infrastructure for Pichetto “the role of the EU in coordinating the necessary actions in case of accidents or sabotage would certainly constitute an added value.”