EU price cap fails to address potential existential threat

A worst-case scenario of the implications of the proposed legislation could be tensions that test the bloc’s very unity

One of the more frustrating aspects of the current EU plan to put a cap on the continent’s gas price is that, while working to accelerated timescales, its politicians and policy wonks have had months to come up with a workable solution. That they have come up with such a flawed scheme cannot be blamed solely on lack of time. Capping the price of gas was first discussed at European Council level as long ago as May this year. Then, in early September, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, floated the idea of capping the price of Russian gas. Key reasons Her proposal was quickly abandoned for two key reasons: firstly, amounting to a sanction, its adoption required unanimit