Dan Jørgensen, the EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, will present a plan for phasing out all Russian fossil energy in two weeks. This was stated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a speech at the Energy Security Summit, which will be held in London on Thursday.
- At the start of this decade, we were far too dependent on one supplier of energy. Russia supplied 45 percent of our gas, 50 percent of our coal and almost a third of our oil.
- We must admit that we were not sufficiently aware of the challenges that came with dependence on Russian energy. The risk of blackmail and price shock, which became clear after the invasion of Ukraine, says Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU Commission has announced that it will stop using Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The plan, which will be presented by the Danish EU Commissioner, will show the way to the goal. The path includes, among other things, establishing more renewable energy in the EU, says Ursula von der Leyen.
- As our dependence on fossil energy decreases, our energy security increases, she says.
She points out that the EU cannot be blackmailed and can better control prices when energy production will take place within the EU countries' own borders.
- Russia tried to exploit our dependence by cutting us off from their gas. They tried to create economic unrest and weaken our support for Ukraine. But it did not work.
- We have diversified our energy supply and accelerated our transition to renewable energy, says Ursula von der Leyen.
She points out that EU countries have limited their use of Russian gas from 45 percent of imported gas to now 18 percent. One in five barrels of oil that EU countries imported before the war came from Russia. Now, according to von der Leyen, the figure has fallen to one barrel in 50.
Despite the reduced purchase of energy in Russia, EU countries continue to send billions of euros to Russia in order to continue to buy Russian gas and oil. In return, according to von der Leyen, EU countries have succeeded in stopping the import of Russian coal.
- More needs to be done. That is why our Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, will present a roadmap with concrete measures in two weeks to phase out all imports of Russian fossil energy.
- This means we will no longer be dependent on a hostile power, says Ursula von der Leyen.
She praises the US and Norway, among others, for quickly securing alternative gas supplies to Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The US could perhaps become the supplier of some of the gas that EU countries will lack after saying goodbye to Russian energy. US President Donald Trump has advocated this as part of an agreement on tariffs on European goods.
jel /ritzau/
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