The annual State of the EU Energy Union report shows Europe still relies on Russia for nearly a fifth of its gas imports, while the EU executive is concerned at the slow pace of the transition away from fossil fuels.
Despite a huge drop in supply since the Kremlin began its all-out war on Ukraine in 2022, the EU still relies on Russia for almost a fifth of its gas supplies and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson demurred when asked whether the bloc was ready to include it in an ever expanding sanctions regime.
“We remain fully committed to completing the phase out of Russian gas, which can be done without challenging Europe’s energy security of supply,” Simson told reporters in Brussels as she unveiled the annual State of the EU Energy Union report.
It recognises that although consumption of Russian gas has fallen dramatically from the 150 billion cubic metres, or 45% of all imports before the invasion, the country still relied on Russia for 18% of imports in the eight months to August – slightly more than total LNG imports from the US, meaning Russia is still Europe’s second largest supplier after Norway.
When asked if the Commission was planning to impose sanctions on Russian natural gas imports, particularly now that trans-Ukrainian transfers are set to stop at the end of the year in any case when a transit agreement expires, Simson said Russia had already lost any leverage it once had over the EU by controlling its largest gas supplies.
“The volumes that some companies are still receiving from Russia do not allow [it] to blackmail us any more – there are alternative available,” Simson said, noting that Europe gas stores were already full well ahead of the onset of winter.
The EU executive had been preparing for when the transit agreement between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine expires at the end of the year, she said. “We have found alternative supply routes, and members states or their companies who are still receiving gas from Russia [have had] an extra two years compared to other companies who Russia decided to cut off…in 2022.”
The Commission was determined to ensure that Russian gas that no longer comes via Ukraine – depriving Kiev of transit fees – will not simply be redirected through other routes. “This is work ongoing,” Simson said, again without specifying whether sanctions were imminent.
“My biggest mission is to encourage companies who are still receiving Russian pipeline gas…to opt for more predictable alternatives,” the commissioner said.
Simson acknowledged, however, that firms can continue to import legally from Russia as long as no sanctions are in place. She urged governments “make good use of the tools” agreed during a recent review of gas market rules that allow unilateral bans on Russian LNG imports, which no EU member has yet applied.
The report launched today has been produced annually since 2015 and take its name from the Energy Union initiative launched the previous year by Donald Tusk, then as now Poland’s prime minister, which was a response to energy security concerns triggered by Moscow’s earlier moves to apply political pressure on Ukraine and Europe by throttling gas supplies.
It also flags the Commission’s concerns over the pace of Europe’s energy transition, with Simson noting in particular a need to accelerate the deployment of wind turbines, solar arrays and other renewable energy infrastructure if the EU is to meet its 42.5% green energy target by 2030, despite the two sources having overtaken fossil fuels in the bloc’s electricity generation mix last year.
France, alone among EU members, has not yet met its 2020 renewable energy target of 20%, and the Commission was “in dialogue” with Paris over the matter, Simson said, declining to specify whether formal infringement proceedings were being considered. More broadly, the Estonian politician said the EU executive supported the increased use of power purchase agreements and state-backed ‘contracts for difference’ to further accelerate the transition, as recommended this week in the Draghi report into European competitiveness.
“This report is a clear message to the Commission and EU States: it’s time to get serious about implementation,” said Luke Haywood, head of climate and energy policy at the European Environmental Bureau, an NGO umbrella group. “In the new mandate, task forces must be set up to assess progress on energy savings, renewables, and electrification.”
