BRUSSELS – The latest proposal for a cap of 188 euros for the wholesale price of natural gas “would give the right signals” to the market, Greece’s Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said on Monday, in a doorstep statement as he arrived for the EU energy ministers’ council.

“We have received a clear mandate from our leaders to come up with a solution to the cap today. It is our duty to carry out this mission. We wouldn’t be so insistent if we were not convinced that this is the best solution for European citizens. I hope that the message of determination, solidarity and unity will mark the start of a better year for all European citizens,” Skrekas said in a statement to reporters.

Replying to questions, he said that Greece had already stated that the price cap initially proposed by European Commission, at 275 euros per MW hour, was not, in effect, a price cap, while adding that “any rate between 150 and 190-200 [euros] could work.”

Asked about the latest proposal for a cap of 188 euros, he said that this would “give the right signal to the market” and emphasised that the 27 EU member-states must strive to find a “compromise, a solution that will accommodate all needs from all member-states”, while adding that “we are here to find a compromise.”

(ANA/ M. Aroni)