EU officials are due to unveil plans Tuesday that would “substantially reduce” the region’s dependency on Russian gas in 2022, climate policy chief Frans Timmermans told EU lawmakers on Monday.
“I think we can present a plan … that will substantially reduce our dependency on Russian gas already this year and within years will make us independent of the import of Russian gas. I think that’s possible, it’s not easy but it’s feasible,” Timmermans said.
The European Union depends on Russia for about 40% of its natural gas. Russia also supplies about 27% of the oil the 27-country bloc imports each year. Taken together, that trade is worth tens of billions of dollars a year to Russia, helping to finance President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
“The only way that we cannot be put under pressure … is to no longer be his customer for our essential energy resources,” Timmermans told the environment committee of the European Parliament on Monday. “The only way to achieve that is to speed up our transition to renewable energy resources.”
Russia’s vast energy exports have so far been carved out of the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West in response to Putin’s decision to order his troops to invade Ukraine. But its crude oil is already being shunned by some traders and oil companies, and US officials are discussing banning imports as Russia continues its military action.
EU leaders have made clear this week that the bloc can’t yet join the United States in banning Russian oil, because of the impact that would have on households and businesses already grappling with record high prices for fuel and heating.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday that oil and gas was deliberately left out of previous rounds of sanctions because of its “essential importance” to the lives of citizens. Other EU member states, including Hungary and the Netherlands, are also against a ban.
But Europe knows it needs to act fast to reduce the potential for Moscow to use energy as a weapon in the escalating economic warfare unleashed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said Monday Russia could cut off the supply of gas to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in retaliation for Scholz blocking the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
“In connection with the unfounded accusations against Russia… and the imposition of a ban on Nord Stream 2, we have every right to take a mirror decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the gas pipeline Nord Stream 1, which today is loaded at the maximum level of 100%,” Novak said in a televised address.
Timmermans said Monday that EU countries needed to make more of their own energy, through investments in solar power, offshore wind, hydrogen and biomethane. They should also do more to reduce energy consumption through upgrading buildings.
“We need to provide relief for our citizens that are suffering too much because of the high energy prices. We also need to make sure that we will be ready for the next winter,” he said.
The International Energy Agency said last week that Europe could make a big dent in Russian gas imports within a year, while accelerating its shift to clean energy “in a secure and affordable way.”
“Nobody is under any illusions anymore. Russia’s use of its natural gas resources as an economic and political weapon show Europe needs to act quickly to be ready to face considerable uncertainty over Russian gas supplies next winter,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
Europe should not sign any new gas contracts with Russia, maximize supplies from other countries, accelerate the deployment of solar and wind, make the most of existing low emissions energy sources, such as nuclear and renewables, and ramp up energy efficiency measures in homes and businesses, the agency said.
“Taken together, these steps could reduce the European Union’s imports of Russian gas by more than 50 billion cubic meters, or over one-third, within a year,” the IEA estimated.
— CNN’s Angela Dewan, Anna Stewart, Boglarka Kosztolanyi and Inke Kappeler contributed to this article.
