Europe wants to get rid of all energy imports (coal, oil and gas) from Russia as soon as possible. In one smooth movement, Brussels also wants lower energy prices for citizens and businesses and – through savings and a faster transition to clean energy – a better climate policy.
Detailed plans from the Commission that will go to Parliament and Member States today will require 210 billion in additional investment (until 2027), but 100 billion of this will quickly pay for itself: that is the amount with which EU Member States now fund Putin’s war machine on an annual basis.
If everyone does everything they can, dependence on Russian gas, partly through supplies from elsewhere, should be cut by two-thirds by the end of this year. Joint purchasing, as before with corona vaccines, should also keep the price down. Member States will receive a refreshed ‘toolbox’ with measures (surcharges and temporary or non-temporary tax measures) with which they can meet their own citizens and SMEs.
Climate-unfriendly proposals
Brussels is also launching a campaign with tips on how citizens and businesses can jointly save on the total energy consumption of a country like Austria, including 13 billion cubic meters of gas. Much more wind and sun (panels on all new construction and existing government buildings), together with hydrogen, should provide another 50 billion cubic meters in savings. The package also includes climate-unfriendly proposals. Temporarily (five to ten years) more coal and nuclear energy will be needed for power generation, but – says Brussels – not through new power stations, only through life extension.
(green) critics are more concerned about CO2 emission rights that are coming onto the market more quickly (to generate extra money, but at the expense of climate investments) and about the development of a new gas infrastructure (terminals, pipelines). This must not lead to a longer use of gas and must therefore at least be designed in such a way that it is also suitable for hydrogen at a later date.
Expand national recovery plan
Brussels believes that a large part of the financing can be obtained from existing funds and especially from the existing corona recovery fund. All Member States are expected to extend their national recovery plan with an energy chapter. Today’s plans are a detailed elaboration at the request of the member states of a then still rather global plan (‘RepowerEU’) that Brussels put on the table two weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a brief presentation, Commission President von der Leyen said this afternoon that the war shows how dependent Europe still is on fossil fuels, and how vulnerable it is when it comes to fossil fuels from Russia. So that will soon change. “Last year 40 percent of European gas came from Russia, last month 26 percent, and we have to go even faster. I am convinced that it is possible, among other things by raising our climate ambitions to an even higher level.”
Watch our trending news videos in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
#Brussels #energy #prices #citizens #companies