Sánchez demands in Brussels a "particular response to the specific problem of the Iberian energy island"

• War in Ukraine Pedro Sánchez prioritizes diplomacy and runs into the street

• Tour Pedro Sánchez desperately seeks the support of the EU to avoid his national measures

Neither

nor

: the main objective of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in the

that starts today in

energy regime

, a "particular response to the specific problem of

the energy island of the Iberian Peninsula". This was explained upon arrival at the meeting, in which the Heads of State and Government of the 27 will talk about the Ukrainian war, the economy and especially energy throughout Friday. The president has not expressly spoken of acting alone if the solutions are not satisfactory, but the sensations transmitted in the last week to his interlocutors is that the unthinkable and unacceptable thing would be not to do everything possible.

"There is a specific reality of the Iberian Peninsula. You have heard me talk a lot about interconnection problems. The peninsula is an energy island, there is barely 2.8% of interconnections between our market and the European market, and we have very specific characteristics that harm us and that are aggravated by the rise in the price of gas," said the president.

"Therefore, the governments of

and

have proposed a technically rigorous, solid proposal that does not call into question the functioning of the market and that could give us both the capacity to respond forcefully to the rise in gas prices. and electricity," said the president.

the

He has been discussing energy since the end of the summer.

The Spanish Executive has been the most insistent since then on "very bold measures".

Then his proposals and requests were ignored and blocked, but now, after the Ukrainian invasion and with skyrocketing prices, the reality is very different.

The European Commission presented this week its third battery of ideas, and it already contemplates what was once unimaginable: price caps (temporarily), joint purchases of gas, compensating or subsidizing producers for the inflation of raw materials.

In addition to taxing the so-called "extraordinary profits", among other things.

However, the two ideas that are most interesting in Madrid are not there:

completely disassociate the price of gas from that of electricity and completely intervene in the market to change the marginalist pricing system.

Not now.

The Commission has put a series of proposals on the table, but without enthusiasm, as it warns that many of them, although they fulfill their purpose in the short term, may have counterproductive effects in the medium term.

And even to guarantee supply at a more than delicate geopolitical moment.

Spain is very satisfied, because "many of these ideas are copyrighted by Spain," according to the president.

But aspire to more.

And if there is no intervention at a general level, what Moncloa is asking for is permission to go it alone, guaranteeing that the connection between our market and the European market is so scarce that nothing could be endangered.

"Now a formula is important that is adapted to the reality of the Peninsula, which is an energy island that has less than 3% of interconnections with the north. We are poorly integrated, but all the rules of the market apply to Spain and this It is something that harms us doubly. Because of the scarcity, the insignificance of the interconnections. We have both proposed something very reasonable, technically sound, that does not call into question the functioning of the market, hopefully we will find the levers so that this can become a reality", the president has said.

Until now it seemed that the president proposed this treatment ad hoc in case of not achieving a global solution.

In fact, he reiterated today that although on the 29th the Government will present a national plan to "respond to the consequences of the war and give a concrete and global response to the problem of energy", "obviously we would do it more efficiently and forceful if from the European point of view we gave a unique answer".

But today he has stated that in reality, there are three simultaneous levels and that he aspires for all of them to move forward.

"Solution for all of Europe"

"We want a solution for all of Europe. Not only a joint purchase but also a cap on gas prices. But being aware that this may take weeks, what we propose is that we respond to the particularity of the peninsula, which has the interconnection minimum it has. Both things are perfectly compatible. There are three steps. Urgent measures aligned with the geographical reality of the peninsula. The second, what Spain has been proposing with

and others, to jointly negotiate the purchase of gas and control the price. And third, a structural reform of the energy market and they are not incompatible things and that is what the government is working on", the president added.

In the last week, Sánchez has been on tour and has achieved support that was not so clear before, such as that of

.

But convince

or the Commission itself that this type of solution that would fragment, even temporarily, a market that has taken decades to set up, will not be easy at all.

"We show solidarity, responsibility, but being aware that the mix of each country is different, and the interconnections. And not for lack of commitment to the green agenda. 45% of Spanish production comes from renewables and only 10% of the gas, that has to translate into different proposals for the reality of the peninsula", he insisted.

"Even the most doubtful see the technical quality of the Spanish proposal and we hope that in such an important European Council we will achieve a balanced solution for all (...) The important thing is to square this enormous sudoku. What is relevant is to act as we did in the pandemic, united.

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