Ingmar Schlecht (ZHAW CEE) presented the idea of tradable gas usage rights at the Energy Economists Roundtable of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK). The presentation can be downloaded in German(PDF 614,9 KB) or English(PDF 626,3 KB)).

It addressed the question of how Europe can organize its internal gas shortage in a better way than through the gas price. Due to the fact that in gas supply contracts the price is often linked to the gas spot price in Europe, the purchase of gas for Europe (incl. Switzerland) is currently very expensive, which mainly benefits the supplier countries. Households suffer from the high prices.

The instrument presented addresses the problem with a certificate market, which ensures that the available gas volume is first distributed efficiently within Europe, so that overbidding on the gas market is avoided and the gas price falls.