EU European Parliament puts pressure on Commission and Member States to impose large-scale energy sanctions on Russia – WSJ: Commission proposes ban on coal imports

Brussels

Strasbourg the EU parliament in plenary is urging the Commission and member states to impose tough additional sanctions on Russia.

Additional sanctions are coming this week, but apparently not yet as far-reaching as desired in Parliament, for example. Imports of natural gas from Russia do not yet appear to be a target, but pressure has increased to stop even imports of oil and coal.

According to The Wall Street Journal the Commission would propose the cessation of coal imports, in addition to preventing Russian sea and road transport from entering the EU.

The President of France Emmanuel Macron said in a radio interview on Tuesday that he was in favor the cessation of oil and coal imports from Russia.

Representatives of member states will work to complete the additional sanctions on Wednesday, when their contents will be announced on Thursday.

Influential Belgian MEP Guy Verhoftstadt launched a letter on Monday that was instantly signed by more than 200 MEPs. Representatives of the Coalition Party, the Center Party, the Greens and the RCP are present from Finland.

MEPs from the SDP, the Basic Finns and the Left Alliance have not signed the letter.

In a letter to the Commission and member states, MEPs want the EU to completely stop importing gas, oil and coal from Russia. In addition, they demand that the EU close its ports to Russian ships and goods.

In addition, MEPs want all Russian banks to be excluded from Swift’s banking system and personal sanctions extended. According to Verhofstadt’s letter, personal sanctions could be extended Alexei Navalnyin in accordance with the lists of names made by the Foundation.

The letter also calls on the EU to support Ukraine armed.

The letter signed by the Finnish mayor Henna Virkkunen (Kok) says that if the EU does not achieve a comprehensive ban on energy imports from Russia, something should still be started, such as coal and oil.

They are more acceptable to many Member States than a total ban on natural gas imports, the effects of which Germany, among others, has warned about.

The importance of coal in the energy supply of EU countries has decreased. It and oil are easier to replace gas by turning to sellers other than Russia. However, at least in oil, a ban on imports from Russia would probably lead to a significant rise in prices.

In Finland, coal has been imported from Russia by the Helsinki energy company Helen, which announced at the beginning of March that it would stop importing. There are still a few burdens for the company from Russia.

On Tuesday, Greenpeace activists announced their intention to prevent the unloading of Russian coal cargo arriving at Helen’s Salmisaari power plant in the morning.

Read more: Helsinki continues to buy gas from Russia during the offensive war, coal ships arrive in port – Helen’s public relations manager in charge

Fifth the contents of the sanctions package are a carefully guarded secret so that, for example, potential new personal sanctions do not have time to organize their property.

The EU commission will draw up a proposal on sanctions on Tuesday night, which will be discussed by member states’ ambassadors on Wednesday. The fifth batch of sanctions has been prepared for weeks since this became the assignment already at the recent EU leaders’ meeting.

Originally, the intention was to close the obvious loopholes in sanctions so far, make it harder to circumvent sanctions, and to expand personal sanctions. The horrors of the weekend in Busha near Kiev changed the situation immediately, and now several member states want substantial additional sanctions.

Some countries are particularly reluctant to impose energy-related sanctions. However, they will inevitably be next on the list if new sanctions are desired.