The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has «totally» failed in his energy blackmail of Europe, although she called for action now to fill reserves by 2023, in the face of an inauspicious scenario in the liquefied gas market.
In an intervention at the European Parliament in Brussels on the results of the last summit in October, the leader of the Community Executive has boasted of the measures implemented in Europe to reduce energy consumption and replace the cut in Russian gas supplies by 80 percent.
«I have not forgotten how Putin tried to put pressure on us with energy and there was talk of a possible blackout in Europe. This dark scenario has not only not materialized but we are ready for winter and with gas prices down,» he noted.
In this regard, Von der Leyen has accused the Russian leader of «trying to do everything» to bend Europe’s arm. «He has totally failed. We have all done our part and I think we can be proud,» he reiterated, on the pulse raised by Moscow on account of the war in Ukraine.
In any case, he warned that, after the winter, Europe will face the «challenge» of refilling its gas reserves in a scenario in which Russia may have completely cut off supplies to Europe, liquefied gas production capacity will no longer grow and Asia will concentrate additional liquefied gas on the market.
«As a result of these factors, next summer Europe may fall short by 30bmc to fill its reserves,» the German conservative has pointed out to then insist that the choices Europe makes today «will determine whether we have the energy we need for 2023 and beyond.»
For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has valued the fact that Europe «is one force» and that the EU-27, despite being divided at first, have moved closer together to advance in joint gas purchases and make progress in setting a ceiling on the price of gas, a new reference price and a gas price corridor.
«These issues are complex, but we must enter into these debates without taboos,» the former Belgian prime minister defended before the MEPs, after claiming that the European action plan must tackle the «astronomical» bills faced by families and companies in Europe, in addition to an «unsustainable inflationary pressure» that threatens to affect the competitiveness of European industry.
