Europe has a serious problem with its dependence on gas from Russia. This is already being demonstrated in the war in Ukraine after 15 days of conflict, and it does not seem that this crisis will disappear, or even stall, in a short period of time. According to data provided by the European Central Bank, the EU imports more than 90% of its gas from abroad; of that percentage, about 45%as pointed out from Brussels, is gas transported from Russia, a fact that places the entire European bloc in a truly difficult position in this conflict.
The reason: the direct and very negative impact that all member states could suffer if Putin fulfills its threats and finally chooses to cut off the supply. There would be consequences, yes, but they would not affect all European countries equally: while the dependence of France or Spain on Russian gas is relatively low -20% and 10%, respectively, given that both territories have other channels for obtaining this material- in Germany, more than 60% of the gas consumed comes from Russia, and in other countries such as Finland this dependency reaches 100%.
For now, the first effects of the conflict between Ukraine and the European Union and Russia are already making themselves felt considerably in the rise in energy prices on the continent, and the situation could worsen much more if the the war in Ukraine. But Why is Europe so dependent on gas exported by Russia? Where does this relationship of interests come from that has ended up causing a turning point in the economy of the Old Continent? To understand the context, it is necessary to go back to the immediate years of the Second World War.
At that time, when the well-known Iron Curtain was lifted, dividing the world into two eternally opposed blocs, Europe found itself in the middle of a geopolitical, ideological and economic conflict on a global scale. While the United States demanded that this continent put an end to its business with the then Soviet Union, the European countries began to question their relationship with the North American power: they refused to subordinate all their business to the pacts with the United States -for reasons, among other factors, of the conjuncture of instability spread throughout the length and breadth of the globe-, at the same time that they began to value a new period of independence betting on new ways closer and probably cheaper.
The USSR, which had collaborated with the West to put an end to Hitler’s Nazi regime, was no longer seen as a very dangerous enemy, but as a territory that was finally opening up to different trade relations without compromising the territorial security of the other party. The Soviets would also see here a similar opportunity that materialized, in the mid-1960s, with the construction of the Druzhba pipeline – in Russian, ‘friendship‘-, an infrastructure with which Russia became a major oil supplier on the European continent through Ukraine, among other eastern territories.
The oil crisis and the change in Europe’s trend towards gas consumption further strengthened that relationship with the former USSR in the face of the continued rejection of a US with less and less presence on the other side of the Atlantic. Hence the birth of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod gas pipeline (also known as the trans-siberian gas pipeline), a construction of more than 4,500 kilometers with the capacity to transport 32,000 million cubic meters of natural gas per year and financed in part by German, French and Japanese banks.
The commitment to gas at the community level expanded Europe’s business channels with other countries; such as Algeria, which in the following years built the gas pipelines connected with Italy -the Transmediterranean at the beginning of the 1980s- and with Spain -in 2011 the Medgaz was inaugurated, with the capacity to transport 10,500 million cubic meters of gas per year-; or like Qatar, with the start-up of its liquefied gas pipelines with which they supplied part of their product to European territory. But that same bet on gas also led to increased dependence on imports from Russia.
Specially in Germany, with the construction of the Nord Stream 1. This project, capable of transporting 55,000 million cubic meters of gas since 2011, raised suspicions and doubts from the beginning by the US and Ukraine, but also by other European countries that began to fear an increase in Russian influence in the European political-economic sphere. Precisely, the start of the war in Ukraine was one of the reasons that led to paralyzing the activation of Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline that further increases Europe’s central dependence on Russian product.
From Algeria to the ‘greenway’
All this process explained above has led the current European Union to a difficult position to say the least in obtaining gas. For this reason, before the start of the crisis in Ukraine, when on the ground there were only tense dialogues, threats and commitments not to initiate any military conflict, the EU already began to work on new ways that would allow it to reduce, to the extent possible, possible, that dependence on Russian gas. Are there alternatives to Russian exports today? One of them has already been named.
In recent weeks, the name of Algeria, exporter of Russian gas to Europe from the gas pipelines that cross Italy and Spain, two countries that have not taken long to position themselves to become the new axes of supply, has begun to be repeated continuously. of gas to the rest of the continent.
Algeria wants to sell more gas to Europe, and Italy has already got going by quickly contacting its authorities; also Spain, as highlighted by Pedro Sánchez on TVE just a few days after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war. In an interview granted to the public entity, the President of the Government defended greater treatment with the Algerians, more pipe between Spain and France and, ultimately, an expansion of the connection between our country and the European gas network. It did not take long for the maneuvers to begin, as confirmed very shortly afterwards, this Sunday, March 6, by the Algerian Presidency itself through a statement on social networks announcing that Sánchez and the Algerian president, Abdelmajid Tebboune, they had had a crucial telephone conversation in response to the current crisis situation.
The EU’s plans in the face of the Russian threat: from increasing gas reserves to reducing the use of fossil fuels
“Pedro Sánchez has called for Abdelmajid Tebboune to thank you for being a reliable energy partner and express its willingness to deepen cooperation between the two countries”, the note pointed out, thus confirming Europe’s attempts to reduce dependence on Russian gas – even with the reluctance to take this route by different leaders, such as Teresa Ribera, Minister of Ecological Transition – Precisely for this reason, Algeria is not the only alternative proposed to readjust the situation of uncertainty in relation to gas supply. A green option is also on the table that, although distant, is already being considered .
This same Tuesday, the European Commission proposed a plan to respond to the rise in energy prices, replenish gas reserves for next winter and that the EU be independent of fossil fuels from Russia before 2030- Specifically, it was proposed that gas storage throughout the European Union must be filled to at least 90% capacity by October of each year, apply emergency measures to limit the ‘contagion effect’ of prices and study options to optimize the design of the electricity market, among other ideas.
But the star measure for which the EC has pushed its chest is part of a plan consisting of diversifying the supply of gas and reducing the use of fossil fuels more quickly. “The faster we switch to renewable energy and hydrogen, combined with greater energy efficiency, faster we will be truly independent and master our energy system“, the president of the Commission, Usula von der Leyen, has assured in recent days. For now, it remains to be seen whether this situation will allow a necessary acceleration of the ecological transition or will end up simply lowering the heating.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
