The EU believes it is “feasible” to reduce Russian gas consumption by two thirds this year

The president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, stated that she considers “feasible” that the European Union (EU) do without by the end of the year two thirds of imports of Russian natural gas.

“It is something doable. It is not a ban (on Russian gas), but a reduction”, Von der Leyen pointed out at the end of the summit of heads of state and government in Versailles (France), implying that there is no intention to immediately close the taps as a sanction against Russia.

To achieve this objective of reducing dependence on Russia, the Twenty-seven agreed on a whole series of measures, ranging from the diversification of the gas supplying countries to the acceleration in the deployment of renewable energies.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who participated in the press conference together with Von der Leyen and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, did not want to definitively close the door to a total halt in gas and oil purchases Russians in a future sanctions train.

Asked about this possibility, Macron said that if “Russia intensifies the bombing, besieges Kiev and intensifies the scenes of war, we know that we will have to intensify the sanctions. And in that framework, we do not prohibit anything. Nothing is taboo.”

Beyond that eventuality, hypothetical at the moment, the clear will of the EU, expressed by Von der Leyen, is that “in the medium term we have to get rid of dependence on Russian gas and oil.”

Moscow receives about US$800 million a day from the oil and gas imported by the member countries of the Union, and that money is at the moment its main source of foreign currency to, among other things, finance the war in Ukraine.

The leaders of the Twenty-seven have commissioned the EC to detail its proposals between now and mid-May so that independence from Russian hydrocarbons becomes a reality by 2027.

Its president advanced that talks have already begun with other countries that can supply the flows from Russia. These are in particular the United States, Algeria, Qatar and Azerbaijan.

Another mechanism is to invest “massively” in renewable energy to accelerate its deployment, for which it is planned to simplify the administrative procedures for the installation of wind or photovoltaic parks.

The Heads of State and Government have also instructed the European Executive to present alternatives to reform the electricity market between now and mid-May, which has been a requirement for months from a number of countries, in particular Spain and France, which are requesting a decoupling of electricity prices from gas prices.

As this reform, in the event that there is an agreement from the Member States, will still take time, urgent measures will be studied in the shortest term.

Specifically, the idea is to launch “a time frame” that allows selective aid to be given to companies that are very sensitive to energy costs and that are subject to international competition, but also to consumers.