According to Reuters on Monday, Belgium has backed introducing price caps for the European Union’s gas and electricity hubs and suspending trade in cases of “irrational market behavior”.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reduced gas supplies to Europe have spooked the 27-nation EU into considering price caps to deal with soaring energy prices.
Eurostat reported earlier this year that Belgium had the highest energy inflation in the EU, and the government responded by adjusting taxes and tariffs. The EU energy market has also been called for reform.
“Price levels for gas trading on European hubs should be capped in order to limit irrational market behaviour,” the Belgian government said in the note.
Due to LNG terminals and pipelines connecting Europe and the rest of the world, European wholesale prices should not be significantly higher than those at the U.S. hub or Asia’s JKM, the report said.
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