The agreement follows weeks of talks on the emergency measure, which has divided opinion among the countries of the bloc as it seeks to confront the energy crisis.
The Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and chaired the negotiations.
Officials and a document seen by Reuters said the bloc’s energy ministers had agreed to a gas price cap that would apply if benchmark gas prices rose to 180 euros per megawatt hour.
The document outlining the details of the EU ministers’ agreement showed that the bloc’s gas price cap would come into force if front-month contract prices on the Netherlands-based Gas Contracting Platform (TTF) exceeded 180 euros/megawatt-hour for three days.
The document said the cap could start to apply from Feb. 15 and would not apply to over-the-counter (OTC) deals initially.
Germany, which has been skeptical about a price cap, agreed to back the bloc’s deal on Monday, three EU officials said, despite raising concerns about the policy’s impact on Europe’s ability to attract gas supplies in price-competitive global markets.
In its first comment on the decision, the Kremlin said that the European ceiling for gas prices is “unacceptable and constitutes an assault on energy markets.”
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