EU will agree to phase off its reliance on Russian energy

European Union Russia Energy Dependency

EU will agree to phase off its reliance on Russian energy.

The European Union is determined to phase out its reliance on Russian energy as quickly as possible so that the 27-nation union does not have to make difficult decisions about harming their own economies in geopolitical crises like the invasion of Ukraine.

The 27 EU leaders will convene in Versailles, outside Paris, on Thursday for a two-day meeting to discuss methods to reduce their dependency on Moscow for fossil fuels.

"We decided to reduce our reliance on Russian gas, oil, and coal imports," according to a draft of the summit declaration reviewed by The Associated Press.

At the same time, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, was working on plans to make it happen on Tuesday.

For more than a decade, the EU has felt increasingly stuck when it came to dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin's deteriorating relations, but the prospect of leaving tens of millions shivering in the cold this winter due to a lack of fossil fuels or sky-high prices limited political options.

The invasion of Ukraine changed everything, and the EU gathered within two weeks to draft a more comprehensive energy policy. Even while some US politicians have expressed the desire to restrict Russian oil, it has yet to sign on to sanctions against Russian energy.

EU leaders agree to diversify "our supplies and routes, particularly through the use of LNG (liquefied natural gas) and the development of biogas and hydrogen," according to the draft statement.

They are already committed to the rapid development of renewables in order to combat climate change, and they will speed up the process now in order to maintain their political independence.

The bloc will work to enhance member-state links so that liquid natural gas arriving in Spain, for example, can be rapidly transported to the rest of the region.

Because of inadequate supplies, energy prices have been high for months, driving up the cost of everything from electricity bills to groceries as firms pass their costs on to customers.

Natural gas is now ten times more expensive than it was at the start of 2021. It is still flowing through the major pipelines connecting Russia and Europe, including those that pass through Ukraine, according to pipeline companies.

The first significant hurdle for the EU will be to make the bloc more self-sufficient by next winter. Europe is in a different situation than the United States, which generates its own natural gas and gets over 40% of its gas from Russia.

Last week, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said that by letting existing gas contracts with Russia expire, finding new supplies from partners such as Norway and Azerbaijan, imposing minimum storage requirements, maximizing the use of remaining nuclear plants, and offering cash support to vulnerable electricity customers, Russian gas imports could be cut by one-third this year.

Source: Raf Casert, The Associated Press