“The thing will fail”: insiders are already warning – is von der Leyen’s EU emergency plan sinking into chaos?
Created: 2022-07-25 13:19
By: Franziska Schwarz
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at a press conference in Brussels.
© Virginia Mayo/AP/dpa
The EU Commission wants to force gas savings if necessary.
The resistance in several countries is great.
Poland in particular is said to be critical of Germany.
Brussels - There is fear of a gas crisis in the EU and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin scoffs at German austerity plans.
The EU energy ministers now want to meet for a special meeting - but the gas emergency plan seems to be on the brink.
The gas emergency plan provides for the following:
All EU countries are voluntarily trying to save gas.
The target here: at least 15 percent reduction
The period: August 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023
Benchmark for savings: average consumption over the same period over the past five years
Criticism from the South of the EU gas emergency plan: "Unsustainable"
The special point of contention: In the case of a real gas emergency, consumption should also be restricted.
The economies in the EU are closely interwoven and a gas crisis would affect every member state in one form or another, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU).
However, there is loud criticism, for example in Portugal and Spain.
The Portuguese government could not accept the proposal at all because it was "unsustainable", explained the Secretary of State for Environment and Energy, João Galamba, in an interview with the newspaper
Público
.
"We consume gas out of absolute necessity," he assured.
And Teresa Ribera, Spanish Minister for Ecological Change, complained: "We can't make sacrifices that we haven't been asked about." She emphasized: "Unlike other countries, we Spaniards have not lived beyond our means in terms of energy consumption. The Spanish newspaper
El País
has already written of an "Iberian front".
Gas crisis in the EU: "Iberian Front" in an emergency plan?
According to a report by Die Welt
, several diplomats familiar with the advice fear
that the EU gas emergency plan will fall through.
A diplomat described the project as a “really difficult issue”.
It would be "already a success" if it came to constructive talks.
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With “the thing will fail”, the newspaper even quotes a diplomat from an EU country who supports the plans in principle.
Others speculated that the gas emergency plan might not get the necessary qualified majority.
And according to
Welt
, Warsaw also had this assessment: The gas emergency plan should primarily save the German economy.
(frs with dpa material)