Business

The EU offers contingency plans in case the Ukraine crisis affects energy supplies

Brussels is considering how to protect consumers from a potential energy crisis as part of a plan to protect Europe’s households, businesses and borders from disaster caused by a military escalation of the EU. Russia in Ukraine.

Diplomats told the Financial Times that the EU is discussing contingency measures to deal with risks from soaring gas prices, a possible migration crisis and cybersecurity threats. if Russia invades Ukraine.

The priority of EU emergency planning is to deal with any decline in gas flows from Russia, Europe’s largest country. supplier accounting for about 40% of import turnover.

World leaders will meet Monday on both sides of the Atlantic to seek a diplomatic solution to de-escalate the crisis with Russia. Emmanuel Macron will Meet Vladimir Putin in person in Moscow after three phone calls in the last 10 days. The French president plans to tell his Russian counterpart that while Ukraine’s security cannot be compromised, he understands that Moscow has its own concerns.

At the same time, Olaf Scholz flew to Washington meeting Joe Biden for the first time since becoming German chancellor in December. He plans to present a united front to the US President following accusations that Berlin has become a weak link in the German resistance. The West opposes Russia’s reinforcement of more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview on Friday that the EU needs to prepare for “any scenario” with Russia and Ukraine – part of which is to do whatever it takes to find alternative energy sources.

“You would never trust an unreliable gas supplier,” she said. “This scenario would be very difficult for the EU, but the same goes for Russia with its one-way economy. Given that situation, we will also do everything to ease the pressure on households and consumers.”

The Commission is looking at how it could intervene temporarily to weaken the link between record gas prices and the wholesale cost of electricity in the EU should a gas crisis arise – a measure that officials The EU rejected a few months ago in a record electricity price hike.

The EU’s energy regulator has warned of disrupting the bloc’s electricity pricing system, saying that introducing tools like price caps would jeopardize supply security by forcing some offer stop trading.

Officials told the FT that short-term plans for dealing with a crisis would also include ensuring increased flows of liquefied natural gas from major producing countries.

European energy prices rose to record highs in late 2021, driven by concerns about Russia’s willingness to supply imports in an all-out military conflict. According to Citi analysts, if Moscow stops all supplies to Europe, it will lead to emergency allocations and blackouts in the EU.

Contingency plans will be presented to EU capitals next month, although an extraordinary summit will be convened more quickly if Moscow increases military threats.

Officials said discussions are also likely to include how to handle any potential refugee flows from Ukraine into the EU’s neighbours. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania all have borders with Ukraine.

The EU dependence on Russian gas has long been seen as a brake on the bloc’s ability to impose punitive sanctions on Russia. Senior EU officials have in recent weeks embarked on diplomatic insults against major LNG producers, with the likes of the US, Azerbaijan and Qatar reaching out for more supplies.

Following discussions in Baku on Friday, EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said Azerbaijan had shown a “clear readiness to assist the EU in the event of gas disruptions”.

She will have talks with the US this week about its LNG capacity. The EU is also planning to open discussions with Nigeria as it seeks to expand LNG supplies.

The commission said Brussels was working to find ways to “make our energy markets more resilient and function in the most optimal way”.

Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button