Ministers Agree On EU Commission's Proposal On Joint Gas Purchases - Czech Energy Minister

EU energy ministers agreed on the proposal of the European Commission to establish a joint purchasing platform for gas to ensure reliable supplies to EU countries, Czech Republic Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2022) EU energy ministers agreed on the proposal of the European Commission to establish a joint purchasing platform for gas to ensure reliable supplies to EU countries, Czech Republic Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela said on Tuesday.

"The ministers agreed that we should focus on joint purchases; This is something we are already discussing for some time and we need to start buying gas from reliable partners all around the globe immediately after the upcoming heating season," Sikela said at a press conference following the Energy Council's meeting in Luxembourg.

EU ministers also came to an agreement on another part of the proposal concerning aggregation of demand in the EU so that security of supply is ensured across the entire bloc, Sikela added.

Last week, the European Commission unveiled a set of proposals that could require member states to buy gas via a joint purchasing mechanism to avoid internal competition for scarce resources.

On Friday, leaders of the 27 member nations agreed after late-night talks that they would endorse further work on a "temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions" as part of the set of proposals introduced by the European Commission amid efforts within the EU to curb gas prices.