The European Commission aims for EU countries to start jointly buying gas “well before summer”, European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said on Monday, an attempt to help countries refill storage and avoid a supply crunch next winter.
Following a first meeting of European Union country representatives to coordinate the planned purchases, Sefcovic said he had urged member states to swiftly engage with market players in their countries to estimate the volumes of gas they will jointly purchase.
Sefcovic asked industry to confirm if they are interested in joining the EU scheme to jointly buy gas, which the Commission hopes will help Europe refill depleted storage caverns and negotiate lower prices by using countries’ collective buying power.
“We are working on a tight schedule to prepare in time for the next winter and the storage refilling season,” he said in a statement.
