EU prepares for Russia to cut off gas supply over sanctions

Economy 15:00 16.07.2022
The EU is preparing for Russia to cut off gas supplies. In a crisis situation, member states would be obliged to help each other in solidarity, which means providing each other with gas and exchanging information.
 
Which rules apply in the EU if there's a shortage of gas?
 
Should Russia not resume gas supplies after maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is complete, the European Union would bring its 2017 Security Of Supply regulation into force. Under SOS, all EU member states should have emergency plans and a three-phase alarm system at their disposal. Not all governments, however, have done their homework in this respect.
 
EU member states are parts of regional groups that share common risks. One group is made up of the Baltic states and Finland, countries that have thus far been completely dependent on Russian gas and that have partly found alternatives already.
 
Portugal, Spain and France are in another group. Those countries receive only small quantities of Russian gas and would not be directly affected by a delivery stop.
 
In a crisis situation, member states would be obliged to help each other in solidarity, which means providing each other with gas and exchanging information. In addition, EU member states are required to have their gas storage facilities at least 80% full until the heating season begins in autumn. The problem identified by many experts and politicians is that the loss of the largest gas supplier, Russia, makes mutual deliveries or filling storage facilities extremely difficult.
 
What is Germany's role in the EU's gas market?
 
Germany is the largest importer of Russian gas in Europe and an important transit country for pipeline gas transported via Nord Stream and other pipelines. However, what would happen if Germany were no longer to receive Russian gas? Would Germany then have to transfer gas received from Norway or the Netherlands, for instance, to other EU member states despite suffering from a shortage itself?
 
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck is currently negotiating solidarity agreements with neighboring countries. Those agreements will regulate supply in emergency situations. "We will have to take a look at all possible scenarios and what exactly will happen in which situation — i.e., when a disruption of gas supplies has to be officially announced, in which countries, in which steps, so that we know exactly what's happening," Habeck said on a recent visit to Czech Industry and Trade Minister Josef Sikela.
Habeck negotiated a treaty with the Czech government. There had to be a common administration of shortages, he said, so that individual countries would not be unduly affected. The Czech Republic, for instance, obtains its natural gas almost exclusively via pipelines in Germany. Poland, too, gets its gas supplies via Germany and the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, and Switzerland is completely dependent on gas supplies from Germany.
 
Will gas supply solidarity work in the EU?
 
The SOS regulation stipulates that gas only has to be offered to member states that have declared an emergency situation and made every effort to reduce consumption. According to the regulation, the buying and selling of gas would still be attended to by partly private, partly state-run gas suppliers, which is a complex procedure in times of crisis.
 
Putting a cap on gas prices, as proposed by Italy, has so far been rejected by the European Union as being counterproductive. Bulgaria, a country boycotted by Gazprom, still transfers Russian gas via its Turk Stream pipeline to Serbia and Hungary. Would this be able to continue in times of crisis?
 
Hungary has declared an emergency situation and banned all energy exports, meaning that it is no longer adhering to the solidarity principle.
 
"Not sure this is smart for a land-locked country with less than 3 bcm in storage, and 10 bcm of annual gas consumption," Georg Zachmann, a senior fellow in energy and climate policy at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, wrote on Twitter.
 
The European Commission had, for a long time, asked member states to conclude mutual agreements on solidarity supplies as Brussels has no central control mechanism on quotas — or anything comparable — in force. Thus far, Germany has signed three agreements: one with Denmark, one with Austria, one with the Czech Republic. In addition, there are further agreements between Lithuania and Latvia, Estonia and Latvia, Finland and Estonia, and Italy and Slovenia.
 
With regard to gas suppliers, another complex matter is ownership, which often crosses borders in the European Union's domestic market. The state of Finland, for instance, partially owns Germany's largest gas supplier, Uniper. The question is, therefore, which government would come to the rescue should private companies run into financial difficulties.
 
The main problem cannot simply be solved through coordination between member states nor by the plans submitted by the European Commission, said Markus Ferber, a Christian Democrat who represents Germany in the European Parliament: There is just not enough gas available. "It won't get us through the winter," Ferber said.

 

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Palestinian man shot dead after stabbing Israeli soldier during West Bank raid
21:20 10.07.2025
Israel has agreed to 'significant steps' to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza: EU foreign policy chief
21:00 10.07.2025
EU aims to mobilize up to $11.7B in investments for Ukraine's reconstruction
20:45 10.07.2025
UNAIDS warns funding collapse could lead to 6M new HIV infections, 4M deaths
20:30 10.07.2025
UN report sounds alarm on climate health risks for world's aging population
20:00 10.07.2025
Merz: Germany fully supports Ukraine's plans to join EU
19:45 10.07.2025
Azerbaijani citizens involved in Wagner armed group arrested - State Security Service conducts operation
19:15 10.07.2025
Luka Modric signs one-year contract with Milan
19:00 10.07.2025
Rubio: US hopes to persuade NATO allies to transfer some Patriot systems to Ukraine
18:45 10.07.2025
Zelenskyy: 200 agreements with total value of over €10B ready to be signed
18:30 10.07.2025
Von der Leyen's EU Commission survives Parliament confidence vote
18:15 10.07.2025
SOCAR becomes jersey sponsor of Turkish First League side
18:00 10.07.2025
Azerbaijan takes leading postion in UN digital trade survey
17:45 10.07.2025
Ex-NBA player Ben McLemore sentenced to over 8 years in prison for rape
17:30 10.07.2025
Russia warns Armenia of sanctions risk
17:15 10.07.2025
COP29 President, COP30 President-designate hold discussions at OPEC seminar
17:00 10.07.2025
Ilham Aliyev's meeting with Nikol Pashinyan was constructive
16:55 10.07.2025
Baku says Azerbaijan, Armenia agreed to continue dialogue in bilateral format
16:45 10.07.2025
Peskov: Baku-Yerevan peace treaty will bring stability to South Caucasus
16:30 10.07.2025
Azerbaijan refunds over 94M manats of VAT to consumers
16:15 10.07.2025
Amnesty International slams US sanctions on UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
16:00 10.07.2025
China pushes back 50% US 'security' tariffs on copper imports
15:45 10.07.2025
Top Southeast Asian diplomats hold summit with China’s foreign minister
15:30 10.07.2025
Israeli strikes on Gaza leave 97 Palestinians killed, dozens more injured in past day
15:15 10.07.2025
Messi creates history in MLS, becomes first player to achieve rare feat
15:00 10.07.2025
Heavy rain delays over 300 flights in New Delhi
14:45 10.07.2025
Shamakhi to host conference on Modern Information Space and Freedom of Religious Belief
14:30 10.07.2025
At least 28 killed, dozens injured in pre-dawn Israeli strikes across Gaza Strip
14:15 10.07.2025
Court orders arrest of former South Korean president
14:00 10.07.2025
US nuclear-powered submarine makes first port call in Iceland
13:45 10.07.2025
Israeli soldier killed during attempted Hamas abduction in southern Gaza, IDF says
13:30 10.07.2025
ADY and China Railways reach agreement to increase BTK capacity
13:15 10.07.2025
U.S. measles cases hit highest level in 33 years,
13:00 10.07.2025
Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia discuss co-op in hydrocarbon sector
12:45 10.07.2025
UK, France to order more Storm Shadow missiles, plan next-generation replacements
12:30 10.07.2025
Houthis kidnapped crew members of Eternity C vessel, US Embassy in Yemen says
12:15 10.07.2025
President Ilham Aliyev addresses participants of ICDO General Assembly session
12:00 10.07.2025
US to impose 50% tariffs on imports from Brazil starting August — Trump
11:45 10.07.2025
US resumes certain arms shipments to Ukraine
11:30 10.07.2025
SOCAR president participates in OPEC International Seminar
11:15 10.07.2025
Hamısı