Stand united against Vladimir Putin. Do not give him the satisfaction of appearing divided, while Moscow plays with their nerves, by opening and closing, in turn, the gas tap. Tuesday, July 26, the Twenty-Seven managed not to tear each other apart, while their energy ministers met in Brussels to discuss the highly inflammable subject of energy security. Better still, they managed to agree to reduce their gas consumption in a coordinated way, in order to fill their stocks as much as possible and better prepare for a winter without Russian hydrocarbons.
This agreement provides for a double trigger mechanism. First, between the 1er August and March 31, 2023, each Member State must do its best to reduce its gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the last five years over this same period. Secondly, in the event of a serious shortage, the state of alert may be triggered by decision of the Member States (by qualified majority) and this objective will become binding, so that a solidarity mechanism can be set in motion between the Twenty -Seven.
So much for the general framework, which more or less corresponds to that drawn by the Commission on July 20, when it presented its battle plan for a winter without Russian gas. For the rest, the Twenty-Seven have largely amended and somewhat weakened the Brussels project, by multiplying the derogations.
Russian deliveries already down
In record time, less than a week, ” the European Union [UE] took a decisive step to deal with the threat of a complete gas cutoff by Putin”, nevertheless welcomed Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission, on Tuesday. In fact, this agreement, albeit imperfect, lays the foundations for coordinated action between the Twenty-Seven in a field – energy – which is strictly a matter of national sovereignty and over which the Member States jealously guard.
In its own way, Gazprom helped them to agree, by announcing on Monday that it would reduce, as of Wednesday, its deliveries via the Nord Stream gas pipeline. After ten days of maintenance, it resumed reduced service on July 21. “One day Gazprom increases its deliveries, the next it reduces them. In doing so, Moscow is trying to divide us, it will not succeed”commented Claude Turmes, Luxembourg’s energy minister.
Despite these jolts worthy of Chinese torture, the trend is clearly downward. Since February 24 and the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has constantly reduced its gas deliveries to the Twenty-Seven, fueling in the process a surge in prices which allows it to continue to finance its war, while by rationing the European allies of kyiv: today they represent less than a third of what they were then. Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark are already deprived of it when France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have seen their supplies greatly reduced.
You have 55.53% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.