Ribera rules out cuts, assures that it will be “in solidarity” with other partners but that the Brussels proposal has not taken into account the impact on countries that “have not lived above” their energy possibilities
Spain refuses to reduce gas consumption in industries and homes by 15% as proposed by the European Commission to deal with Russia’s cut. This is how forceful the Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has been when assessing the program presented in Brussels in which she demands a reduction in that consumption for all member states, without distinction and regardless of Russian dependency. “You cannot impose something about what has been asked”, Ribera indicated in her intervention to assess the community position. “The proposals go further taking into account the physical impositions”, she indicates.
Ribera considers that the idea that all States reduce gas consumption by 15% does not make sense in a market like Spain, practically foreign to the rest of Europe, being an energy island. Even if the peninsular system applied this cut, Spain does not have the capacity to transfer all that gas that has not been consumed, not even by land, in the small gas pipelines that connect the Basque Country and Navarra with France; nor by methane tankers, since the rest of the countries, such as Germany, barely have regasification plants to receive that amount of raw material.
“We understand the difficulties that others may be going through,” explained Riberao. But at the same time he recalled that Spain “has not lived above our means” in recent years in energy matters, in a clear reference to the reproaches of the frugal countries (north and central Europe) to the criticism of those in the south in the previous financial and public debt crisis.
In fact, the minister has insisted that Spain “wants to show solidarity.” And she has recalled that 20% of the gas that arrives in Spain has been transferred to the rest of the European partners. But that the export capacity of the Iberian Peninsula is very limited to reduce consumption here and take the surplus there. “It’s not viable,” she explained.
In addition, it has rejected a “proposal that has not been agreed upon” and that has been presented to the Ministry “as a closed menu” with no possibility of changes or proposals. Ribera will attend the European Council of energy ministers next week with a plan “adjusted” to the reality of each country, because dependence on Russian gas is not the same in the East as in Spain.
He has also insisted that in Spain there will be no gas cuts in industries, companies or homes after the summer, due to the economic impact that this measure would have on society as a whole. “We do not disagree with the objectives” of savings, “but we want a more solvent proposal.”
The Minister of Ecological Transition had affirmed this morning at an act in the Port of Bilbao that the Government does not foresee restrictions on the gas supply for this winter. Neither for households nor for industry. The third vice president affirms that Spain will be “in solidarity with Europe” but that the best way to help its community partners in the crisis caused by the confrontation with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine is to boost infrastructure and “our regasification capacity”.
Ribera has insisted that Spanish citizens have been “paying the consequences of being an energy island” for many years. In this sense, he has assured that a lot of money has been invested in preparing these infrastructures and that the Spanish do not deserve to suffer restrictions. Ribera has highlighted the capacity of Spanish ports to be a point of entry for liquefied gas to the European Union. “We are in favor of savings and efficiency,” said Ribera, but he has stressed that other measures are not contemplated.
The minister has referred to the possible reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which could take place tomorrow after a supposedly technical stoppage. Ribera has pointed out that what Vladimir Putin has been doing is “blackmail”. For this reason, she has questioned whether the return to service of this pipeline will be effective. “The problem is that, for a year now, only 15% of the capacity has been shipped from Russia.”
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