Jonas Gahr Støre can expect tasty French specialties on the plate, but it is Norwegian gas that will dominate the conversation. Prime Minister Støre has been invited to a late dinner at the Elysée Palace in Paris at 8.30pm tonight. The other two around the table are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron. Støre has become a popular guest at European leaders’ dinner tables this autumn, because Norway has become the EU’s largest gas supplier after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is a role that gets noticed, both in a positive and negative sense. It is appreciated that Norway has increased the production of gas to satisfy European needs. The EU countries are happy that Norway is a stable and predictable supplier. But the price to pay, it is too high. The evening’s host Emmanuel Macron is among those who have said it kindly, but firmly: “We say it in a friendly way to our American and Norwegian friends: You are top, you supply us with gas, but it is something that cannot continue for very long here, and that is that we cannot pay four times more for the gas than the price their own industrial enterprises pay.” WITH STORE AT THE TABLE: Emmanuel Macron invites Ursula Von der Leyen and Jonas Gahr Støre to an energetic dinner in Paris on Monday evening. Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP That calculation can be debated, but there is little doubt that the opinion in many European capitals is that Norway must do something about prices. After the summit in Prague earlier this autumn, there was also a kind of promise from Støre. Because even if the revenues from the gas business are at a record high – eight times higher than before the pandemic – Norway is not benefiting from prices that run wild, Støre has stressed. He therefore promised to continue working with the EU to find ways to stabilize gas prices, without that promise necessarily being considered particularly concrete or binding in all the EU capitals. GAS TO THE CONTINENT: On Melkøya outside Hammerfest, gas from the Snøhvit field is cooled and turned into liquid. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB In the same boat From the Norwegian side there is a clear perception that we are in the same boat, in several ways: It is a problem for Norway if European buyers have payment problems. It may affect Norwegian companies. An unstable continent, with bankruptcies and social upheaval is not something Norway wants. Furthermore, Norwegian electricity prices are linked to gas prices. In addition, the Norwegian authorities have used the argument that Norway has not really earned as much as the oil and gas revenues suggest, as the value of the oil fund has fallen in periods. Everything is connected to everything. However, it is not certain that these arguments hold up. The expectations that Norway will be able to do something – and more – will probably be promoted by Von der Leyen and Macron during the pre-Christmas menu tonight – in all friendliness, of course. Rematch over price ceiling The question of a price ceiling for gas has been a recurring theme in the European debate this autumn. When the energy ministers of the EU gather for a new extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Tuesday this week, that debate may become so heated that it blocks overall measures. At the end of November, the European Commission presented its proposal for a price cap, or a “market regulatory mechanism”, as it was called. AGREEMENT: At the end of November, energy ministers in the EU countries agreed on measures to rein in rising gas prices and improve security of supply. Photo: Olivier Matthys / AP It would work if certain conditions were present. For the critics, the proposed ceiling was so high that in practice it would have had no meaning even during the most dramatic price peaks this autumn, and called it a joke. 12 EU countries, with the main emphasis in the south and east of the union, are said to have now gathered around a demand for a more intrusive mechanism to regulate prices. For many of these countries’ leaders, it is perceived as a clear demand from the voters to intervene and do something tangible and concrete about the high prices – and people’s high bills. For other countries, especially further north, there is deep skepticism about intervening in the markets in this way. Norway shares this skepticism. The Norwegian government’s position is that a ceiling that is too low could lead to gas shortages and greater problems in Europe in the long term, as the gas could end up in other markets instead.
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Støre meets Macron and Von der Leyen at an energy dinner in Paris – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
