The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Putin poker for Nord Stream 2? Why the EU now has to draw conclusions from the misery of energy prices

2021-10-25T11:50:28.731Z


EU countries are alarmed by high prices for electricity and gas. Russia as a major gas player comes to the fore. The pressure on the start of Nord Stream 2 is increasing.


EU countries are alarmed by high prices for electricity and gas.

Russia as a major gas player comes to the fore.

The pressure on the start of Nord Stream 2 is increasing.

Lubmin / Brussels - The natural gas in Europe is becoming scarce.

This fact puts the spotlight on a thorn in the flesh of European relations.

And currently also in the ongoing coalition negotiations of the traffic light alliance: Nord Stream 2. The gas pipeline, which has now been completed, is to be put into operation as quickly as possible according to the will of Russia *, the EU's largest gas supplier.

Deliveries could begin the next day, President Vladimir Putin recently said at a discussion forum in the city of Sochi on the Black Sea. 

The explosive: Europe is in the middle of an energy crisis.

A potential leverage for a quick start of Nord Stream 2 of the Russian gas giant Gazprom.

The rapidly rising prices for oil and gas were therefore high on the agenda of the EU summit in Brussels.

The European Union is fighting for a common response to energy prices.

Because these have been skyrocketing for months, especially for gas.

And even if the political hustle and bustle of Brussels often appears to citizens as from another galaxy, this time the effects can be felt directly in your wallet.

Nord Stream 2: EU struggles to deal with energy crisis - European Commission presents "Toolbox"

The EU commissioner for social rights, Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg, warned before the EU summit - Chancellor Angela Merkel's probably last - of energy poverty in Europe. He went on to announce that the European Commission could help countries limit the impact of high prices on citizens. However, it is primarily the task of the nation states to cushion the social components of the energy crisis.

A so-called “toolbox” was presented for this purpose.

“The Commission * is helping Member States to take immediate action this winter to reduce the impact on households and businesses.

At the same time, we are identifying other medium-term measures to ensure that our energy system is more resilient and flexible to withstand future fluctuations during the transition, ”said Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson on the Commission's official website.

The aim is to give the member states the opportunity to keep energy prices low without violating competition rules.

But will that be enough?

The subsequent EU summit brought little new information to this - but above all revealed the different attitudes of the member states.

Why are energy prices rising so rapidly?

An abundance of developments is causing the current high prices for electricity and gas.

The global recovery after the corona pandemic has boosted energy demand, while the European summer was windless and the spring was cold.

The Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a Brussels think tank, cites these reasons.

There were also droughts in Brazil and Turkey.

All of this has increased the demand for gas and slowed down the storage feed-in considerably.

To make matters worse, according to CEPS, there were funding problems in Norway, Great Britain and Russia.

Gazprom, the Russian company behind Nord Stream 2, is also unwilling to deliver more gas to Europe than its contractual obligations provide.

There is also strong demand for gas in the Asian markets, especially China.

Energy crisis in Europe: Member states are far apart in positions at EU summits

One reason for the gaping attitudes: The EU countries are affected to different degrees. In Germany, for example, the price of gas has risen far less than in Spain, for example. Merkel spoke out in favor of a market-based solution, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pleaded for a reform of the European electricity markets. And Poland and Hungary blamed the European climate measures for the high prices.

Several EU states have now taken measures at national level. France announced a cap on electricity and gas prices, Spain is lowering VAT on electricity and Italy plans to invest three billion euros to waive some of their electricity and gas bills, for example through tax cuts. Luxembourg points the finger at speculation on the gas market and calls for a revision of the EU directives.

In this situation, Putin is pushing for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to go into operation quickly, which will bring natural gas from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

According to Putin *, the deliveries would help ease the heated market.

However, some see it as a political calculation and Nord Stream 2 as a geopolitical weapon.

An old accusation is the controversial pipeline.

Nord Stream 2: Energy crisis in Europe turns controversial pipeline into geopolitical leverage

This has been completed since September 10, but the German authorities have not yet received an operating license.

And the cause provides a lot of explosive in the ongoing coalition negotiations between the SPD, Greens and FDP.

Because there is disagreement among the parties.

Green boss Annalena Baerbock recently drew attention to herself with sharp criticism of Nord Stream 2 * - and demanded that commissioning be suspended for the time being.

In doing so, she referred to European energy law, according to which the operator of the gas pipeline must be different from the one who conducts the gas.

+

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin say goodbye at the end of their meeting in the Kremlin.

© Guido Bergmann / dpa

In view of the high energy prices, Baerbock accused Russia of a “game of poker” and “downhill” gas deliveries. “We mustn't allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” she urged the Funke media group

.

Because there is always the accusation that Russia is deliberately reducing its deliveries to Europe in order to build up political pressure. But the Kremlin has always been indignant in the past, saying that all treaties are being adhered to.

The SPD leader Walter-Borjans * sees it very differently from Baerbock.

"Unfortunately, you can seldom choose suppliers based on their sympathy for a political system, which is exactly the same with oil," he told the

Augsburger Allgemeine

.

"In this case, however, it is not about trade, but about an infrastructure that will help us to transition our highly industrialized country to climate neutrality," Walter-Borjans continues.

Disagreement among possible future coalition partners?

It is also exciting: Annalena Baerbock will be treated as a potential foreign minister in the coming government.

For her tough course against Russia she has already received criticism from other parties *.

Nord Stream 2: First string of the pipeline filled - criticism for Russia from the EU

In the meantime, Nord Stream 2 AG recently announced that the first strand of the controversial pipeline was ready to transport gas.

The filling with so-called technical gas has been successfully completed, according to the company.

Energy Minister Nikolai Schulnigow said on Wednesday that Russia could certainly deliver more natural gas to Europe - but new contracts would have to be concluded.

Nord Stream 2

Nord Stream is a system of underwater gas pipelines. These run from Russia to Germany. The first two tubes, known as Nord Stream 1, were inaugurated in November 2011. Nord Stream 2 was now completed on September 6, 2021. The Federal Network Agency has until the beginning of January to decide whether the controversial pipeline will go into operation. Both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 are expected to deliver up to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Germany per year.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said, according to

Politico

on Monday (October 18) at the final press conference of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg: “The rise in energy prices has deep geopolitical roots. It is part of a geopolitical struggle. ”There are also regulatory problems that have to be resolved internally,“ but the gas price, the scarcity, must certainly be considered from a geopolitical point of view ”. He went on to state: "Russia has kept all of its contracts, it cannot be said that it will not deliver when it has been announced, but it has not increased the contractually agreed quantities."

Energy as a means of pressure to finally put Nord Stream 2 into operation?

It is clear that the controversial pipeline and the escalation on the energy and gas market again offer plenty of potential for conflict.

And even if Russia keeps its contractual deliveries, the country will apparently do nothing to cushion the crisis.

That alone could create 2 facts at Nord Stream.

The first pipe in the pipeline has already been filled.

At the EU summit it was agreed to further research the cause of the enormous price increase.

The discussion itself is to be continued at an upcoming special meeting of the energy ministers.

EU summit: France's Macron promotes nuclear power - alternatives to natural gas and Russia

"Buying gas from Russia does not automatically mean becoming dependent on Russia - if you have alternative gas suppliers or can switch from gas-fired power plants to alternative fuels," says Kadri Liik, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relationships think tank , opposite

IPPEN.MEDIA

. You have to make sure you have alternatives. Then Russia could not use its natural gas as a means of political pressure.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron promoted nuclear power again at the summit: "Today we are too dependent on the import of certain energy sources, the prices of which are determined by fluctuations in the market." A diversification of resources is necessary, and nuclear energy must definitely be part of it of the energy mix, stressed Macron.

And so the demonstration of power in the energy crisis could fall on the Kremlin's feet - if the EU draws conclusions and looks for other suppliers.

In addition to fighting the climate crisis, it could be an incentive for the EU to become independent and to find alternatives to natural gas.

(aka with material from dpa and AFP) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubric lists: © Guido Bergmann

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-10-25

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.