Don’t expect the EU to ban Russian gas any time soon

[Right_in_Virginia]

Don’t expect the EU to ban Russian gas any time soon
Politico, May 31, 2022

After a month of haggling over how to ban Russian oil, only to get a watered-down compromise that lets pipelines keep flowing, EU sanctions on Vladimir Putin's energy exports have reached "the end of the road."

That was the assessment of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Tuesday, summing up the tortuous negotiations which ended in a fudge that let Hungary off the hook.

The logical next step in tightening pressure on Moscow would be to ban Russian gas. But for De Croo and others, that would risk hurting the EU more than Putin. Their reluctance is likely to harden further after new economic statistics released Tuesday showed inflation in the eurozone had soared to 8.1 percent in May, and any further supply shocks from Russia would almost certainly send household energy bills even higher.

While the bloc has committed to ending its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, French President Emmanuel Macron did not sound in any hurry. "I think nothing should be ruled out because nobody can tell how things will evolve, how the war will evolve," Macron told reporters at the European Council in Brussels when asked about banning Russian gas.

One EU diplomat privately described the oil sanctions as a tipping point: “Of course, things can change if something drastic would change on the ground in Ukraine. But today, gas is not an option."

Yet there is a political price to pay from calling time on energy sanctions, too.


More:  https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ban-sanctions-russian-gas-oil-orban-ukraine-war/

[Right_in_Virginia]

[Smokin Joe]

Just goes to show that it is folly to become heavily dependent on sources which might be politically juxtaposed to your own ideology. With Russia cutting off pipeline routes through Georgia and Syria (you surely didn't think they were there for the sunshine, did you?), they retained the energy hegemony over Europe while windmills were built in the North Sea instead of gas wells drilled.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Just goes to show that it is folly to become heavily dependent on sources which might be politically juxtaposed to your own ideology. With Russia cutting off pipeline routes through Georgia and Syria (you surely didn't think they were there for the sunshine, did you?), they retained the energy hegemony over Europe while windmills were built in the North Sea instead of gas wells drilled.

Here's the point:

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also wants gas included in the EU's next round of sanctions. But she acknowledged this was unlikely after the drawn-out negotiations over oil. “Gas is of course much more difficult than oil already was,” she said.

“All the next sanctions will be more difficult because so far they have only hurt Russians,” Kallas added. “But now they’re also having effects on Europeans, and that’s why it’s much more politically difficult.”

Europe is far more reliant on Russia for gas — 40 percent of its gas supply — than coal or oil. Economic powerhouses like Germany and Italy have already warned over the impact if Brussels were to suddenly end Russian gas imports.