Polish coal embargo from Russia under the magnifying glass of Brussels. The assessment will be “political, not commercial”

There are, however, exceptions to these general rules. EU countries in emergency situations can invoke “national security” or “public order” considerations to impose certain restrictions on trade with non-EU countries. And this clause will probably be invoked by the government of Mateusz Morawiecki at the EU forum.

– We know about the draft measures announced by the Polish government, which we are currently assessing – replies Miriam Garcia Ferrer, spokesman for the European Commission, when asked about the plans for the Polish embargo. Brussels avoids more detailed comments for the time being, while waiting for Warsaw to notify the project. – There are strict sanctions in the EU and they are coordinated with our international partners. We carefully evaluate their implementation by the Member States, the European Commission explains.

The wartime context of the coal embargo from Russia means that the assessment of Poland’s actions will be – as one of our interlocutors in Brussels explains – “political, not commercial”. What is a security risk? What for public order? – These are not questions for trade specialists – explains our interlocutor. Therefore, it is very likely that Brussels will not take any significant action against the Polish authorities to bring the common rules of the EU common market into line with the decisions of the Morawiecki government regarding coal.

More up-to-date economic information at.

Embargo on Russian coal easier after the heating season

Morawiecki accuses the European Commission of “failing to act on Russian coal”, but in fact it is about sanction decisions that belong to EU countries. The Commission can only propose sanctions (formally this is done by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell), develop detailed legal projects and then enforce them. The bans on the import of energy resources from Russia were discussed in the discussions between the Commission and the representatives of 27 EU countries before the outbreak of the war (as part of preventive preparations coordinated with the US), but they simply did not gain support.

Although unanimity of 27 EU countries is required when imposing the most important, because EU-wide economic sanctions, theoretically, there is no need for consensus, for example, when extending previously adopted “blacklists” of persons with entry bans and frozen property in the EU. Despite this, the EU has never yet decided to vote on any restrictions, recognizing that unanimity remains a great value in foreign policy. Now the Morawiecki government is presenting the decision on the coal embargo, which would only enter into force in a few weeks, as a form of pressure on other EU countries to agree to the EU-wide ban.

Kedrovsky coal opencast mine in Kemerovo, Russia Photo Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP Photo

In Poland, the grades of coal imported from Russia would be the most difficult to quickly replace in heating plants, boiler rooms and furnaces in private homes. The embargo is therefore easier towards the end or even after the end of the heating season. In turn, Germany, which publicly opposed the immediate ban on coal imports, has announced that the power plants burning Russian coal will do without it next autumn.

A tax on Russian oil?

In addition, the Polish government has announced it will abandon Russian oil and gas before the end of this year, but this is not about the embargo. Morawiecki is now publicly calling on the European Commission to levy a tax on Russian energy resources. This idea has been discussed for some time in Brussels as a possible sanctioning action (and therefore again to be decided by EU countries) in order to accelerate the displacement of oil imports from Russia. During the meeting of the heads of diplomacy on March 21, many EU countries opted not for a sudden oil embargo, but for a very fast – also sanctioning – limiting its purchases with import quotas or special duties.

– When I look at the scale of the destruction in Ukraine, it is difficult for me to justify why we should not enter with sanctions in the field of oil and coal imports from Russia – explained then the head of Irish diplomacy, Simon Coveney. It is possible that the Union will come back to this topic in the coming weeks.

Help Ukraine, join the collection. You deposit money on the website.

The European Commission – at the request of the recent EU summit in Versailles – will present in May a detailed plan to make the EU independent from energy resources from Russia “as soon as possible”. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the Commission, points specifically to 2027. Moreover, the EC has already declared its intention to reduce Russian gas imports to the EU by two-thirds by the end of this year.

While at the level of individual EU countries, especially with great state participation in energy companies (as in Poland), import decisions by companies to bypass Russia are also possible, the EU institutions mean systemic actions. One of the key elements of the European Commission’s plan is the agreement announced last week with the US on a rapid increase in imports of American LNG. This agreement was concluded by the US and EU authorities, but the contracts will be carried out by private business. However, the support of the authorities in the EU is to help, among others by increasing the – which is now an obstacle – too low capacity for LNG regasification in the EU.

***

Author: Tomasz Bielecki