Europe ‘too dependent’ on Russian gas says von der Leyen
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The EU’s energy strategy, published on Tuesday, details the bloc’s masterplan to “reach independence from Russian gas well before the end of the decade” and cut imports by up to two-thirds in 2022. Part of this involves looking for additional partners to export liquified natural gas (LNG) to rid the need for Russia’s pipeline gas and diversifying its energy sources from things like biogas and renewables. The EU currently remains largely dependent on Russia for its gas imports, which account for 40 percent of the bloc’s total supplies.
Around 27 per cent of oil imports and 46 percent of coal imports also come from Russia.
After Russia launched its brutal attack on Ukraine and left the bloc vulnerable to price rises and shortages by deliberately slashing deliveries, the EU has been scrambling to permanently scupper its ties with Vladimir Putin.
But critics of the plan argue that it does not go far enough.
It comes as EU leaders gather today in Versailles to discuss the strategy in an “informal meeting”.
Politico Europe reports that some countries have already to call for the Council to go further.
Some member states are reportedly happy with the plot to completely cut off Russia by 2030, but others want this to happen by 2027.
An EU official said: “Some are asking for 2030, some are asking for 2027, some are saying now.”
The varying levels of dependency on Russia are likely a major factor in the disagreements over the strategy.
Spain, which imports about nine percent of its gas from Russia, said Europe needs to react to Putin “right now”.
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño urged the European Commission on Tuesday to “revise” its energy regulations after the strategy was published.
She said: “In the short term, we need to revise our energy regulation so as to ensure we have the agility and the flexibility to react right now.”
Ms Calviño also stressed that Europe urgently needs to find a way to disconnect the price of gas on international markets from retail electricity prices.
But Germany, for instance, was against slashing ties with Putin at all, admitting that the country is not in a fit state to scupper ties with Russia as its imports account for around a third of its natural gas supplies.
As well as Spain, Italy, Greece and possibly France have also called on more action to deal with the surge in energy prices that are likely to come as a result of slashing ties with Putin.
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Tracey German, from Kings College London, told Express.co.uk: “It (the strategy) could be painful in the short term for consumers if prices rise with increased competition for other supplies (for example, shifting away from Russian gas imports to LNG imports from other countries).
“Germany and Italy take the largest volumes of Russian natural gas, while some eastern European states, for example, Bulgaria, remain highly dependent on Russian energy imports. “
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told the De Standaard newspaper on Friday: “There must be a cap, a European ceiling, on wholesale gas prices.”
But one senior EU diplomat said that there are “no short-term fixes, that’s the problem”.
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