“As a last resort”
Habeck reserves the right to expropriate energy companies
April 12, 2022, 5:35 p.m
A trustee was recently appointed for the German Gazprom subsidiary. Foreign trade law was still required for this. Federal Minister of Economics Habeck also wants to anchor this possibility in the Energy Security Act and also make the instrument of expropriation clearer.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck is stepping up preparations in the event of a severe energy crisis in Germany. A planned amendment to the Energy Security Act provides that, in the event of a crisis, companies that operate critical energy infrastructure can be placed under trustee administration. In extreme cases, expropriation is also possible. The law already provided for this, but the possibility should now be made clearer. The amendment thus went into departmental coordination within the federal government.
The German Press Agency learned from circles in the ministry that it was about ensuring security of supply and ensuring the ability to act quickly in the event of a crisis. Therefore, the ministry led by the Green politician is planning an amendment to the 1975 Energy Security Act. At the time, the law was a reaction to the oil crisis and is now to be adapted to the current crisis.
It empowers the government, in the event of an imminent threat or disruption to the energy supply, to take the necessary measures by means of legal regulations – to ensure that vital energy needs are met.
German Gazprom subsidiary under trust
What is new is that companies that operate critical energy infrastructures – such as gas and electricity supply – should be able to be placed under trusteeship if necessary. The prerequisite should be that they no longer perform their tasks adequately and there is a risk that the security of supply will be impaired.
The Economics Ministry recently appointed the Federal Network Agency as a trustee for the German subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom – on the basis of foreign trade law. The federal government can thus intervene when German companies are acquired by companies from non-EU countries.
Habeck justified the appointment of the federal government as a trustee at Gazprom Germania with unclear legal relationships and a violation of reporting regulations. A new legal basis for trust management is to be created in the Energy Security Act, which is independent of the special requirements of foreign trade law.
Expropriation – the “ultima ratio”
As a “ultima ratio”, the amendment to the Energy Security Act also provides for the expropriation of company shares under clearly defined and narrow conditions – if there is no other way to secure the energy supply in the area of critical infrastructure.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs sees the fact that the refinery in Schwedt (Brandenburg) is to be almost completely taken over by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft as problematic. The ministry is currently examining this. Habeck had said that work was being done under high pressure to overcome the dependency on “Russian influence on the infrastructure”.
Only shortly before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine did the Federal Cartel Office clear the purchase of large shares in the PCK refinery in Schwedt by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft.