The European Unions energy crisis remains unsolved

Since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, the European Union the United States have imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia, but the backbiting effect of sanctions has plunged Europe into an energy crisis. At the recently concluded autumn EU summit, how to deal with the energy crisis was one of the important topics. While EU leaders agreed on a number of emergency energy measures, they remained deeply divided over overall energy policy.

Reach a partial agreement

When EU leaders met for an autumn summit in late October, they agreed on emergency energy measures "temporary price caps on gas used for power generation".

In a joint statement, the leaders of France, Spain Portugal agreed to build a "green energy corridor" linking the Iberian Peninsula to France to transport renewable energy sources such as hydrogen natural gas, according to reports. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the "green Energy corridor" could help open up European energy markets ease Europe's current energy crisis.

France, Spain Portugal, which have been at odds over energy infrastructure projects, have agreed to build a "green energy corridor", showing a degree of agreement among EU countries to tackle the energy crisis.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said it was "good news" that "a historic barrier" had been overcome between the three countries. French President Emmanuel Macron said the new plan, which balances the real need to increase Europe's gas supply with the long-term goal of tackling climate change, was an "important moment of European solidarity".

The joint statement said building the pipeline is a "direct effective option" to connect the Iberian Peninsula to central Europe.

The timetable for building the pipeline the source of funding were immediately clear. However, the three leaders agreed to meet in Alicante, Spain, in early December to discuss the construction schedule, financing other details of the pipeline project.

In addition, ahead of the summit, the EU the North African country of Morocco reached a green energy agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation in the field of renewable energy.

The whole thing is divided

Although the EU member states reached a consensus on the implementation of temporary price limits on natural gas used for power generation, the summit remained divided on the key issue of whether to impose price limits on imported natural gas due to the firm opposition of Germany, the Netherlands other countries. Eu energy ministers will have to meet again on Thursday to discuss the issue.

A meeting of European Union energy ministers on gas price limits remains inconclusive. Czech Industry Trade Minister Sikla, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, acknowledged that "there are still quite different views" across the bloc on imposing price limits. The Hungarian Foreign Minister said the important thing now is to ensure the security of energy supplies that Hungary would accept any proposal that could make the situation worse for the country.

Member states have been at loggerheads for months over gas price limits proposed by the European Commission in response to high gas prices, including a mechanism to cap European gas benchmark prices joint gas procurement, which are subject to EU approval.

At least 15 of the EU's 27 member states reportedly believe a price cap is needed, while a number of countries, led by Germany, are opposed to a cap on gas prices.

Countries such as Germany the Netherlands believe that the price limit imposed by the EU may lead to the sale of gas to other regions, also weaken the incentive of EU citizens to save gas, Z will only further aggravate the energy supply crisis in Europe.

The European Union said it would meet in late November to continue discussions on the issue.

In addition, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban revealed during the summit that the EU has agreed that Hungary does need to participate in the joint EU-level gas procurement plan, Hungary's gas supply contract with Russia will be affected. Even if the EU eventually decides to cap the price of imported gas, Hungary will be exempt.

It is difficult to find fundamental countermeasures

The partial agreement on energy at the summit was widely seen as more of a reflection of inherent divisions within the EU.

When it comes to energy subsidies, for example, Finland Slovakia have different views. Andrei Stanczyk, state secretary of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs European Affairs, argues that there should be a long-term reform of the market to decoupled the price of electricity generated other sources, that the EU should provide direct subsidies to consumers businesses. Titi Tuplainen, Finland's European affairs minister, said her country was ready to impose a "temporary" price cap on gas but opposed consumer subsidies, saying it would be better to "increase investment in green energy rather than subsidising individual households".

The EU has always been divided on its overall energy policy because of its member states' different energy needs, dependence on suppliers, energy mix capacity to regulate energy.

The world is in the midst of "the first truly global energy crisis" the global energy market still needs energy Russia to meet demand, International Energy Agency (IEA) Director General Jorge Birol said recently. Higher global energy prices are driving up prices for things like food services in many parts of the world. As the northern hemisphere heads into winter, continued high energy prices supply shortages will be an ongoing risk for Europeans. If it is a mild winter, Europe may be able to survive it, he said, but Europe will still pay a huge price for energy shortages.

According to European public opinion, the energy crisis has once again highlighted the inherent defects of the EU's inefficient decision-making "no decision" mechanism. At the same time, it has also made it clear to the outside world that the interests of EU countries are widely divergent due to different energy structures other reasons.

According to the public opinion, the EU will find it difficult to find a fundamental response to the crisis in the case of continuing sanctions against Russia insufficient guarantee of energy supply.

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Source: Legal Daily

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