BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is heading towards joint purchasing of natural gas and ensuring that its storage facilities are nearly full to avoid another crisis linked to its reliance on fuel from Russia, officials said on Tuesday.
The 27-nation bloc admits that it has relied too much on Russia for its natural gas and crude oil and has worked to find the mix of sanctions to punish the Kremlin for invading Ukraine while it still requires Russian fossil fuels.
Low levels of gas reserves “caused us difficulties in January, with difficulties in obtaining additional gas for European consumption,” said European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic.
With prices high and supplies low, the EU is studying its latest crisis — the pandemic — as a draft. Member states came together to buy vaccines in large quantities for equal distribution.
Sefcovic said there was “a need to learn lessons about how we deal with getting vaccines. I think there is also support for the common purchase of gas by the member states.”
“I hope this is an approach that should also be supported by heads of state and government,” during a two-day summit starting Thursday, Sefcovic said.
The preliminary conclusions of the summit obtained by The Associated Press include that “with an eye on the coming winter, member states and the Commission will work urgently on the joint purchase of gas, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and hydrogen”. The details of that agreement need to be finalized.
And they will have enough authority to get a good price, Sefcovic said.
“Europe should definitely use its enormous weight, the scale of the European economy, better when negotiating energy prices,” he said.
EU leaders already agreed in principle at a summit on March 11 to gradually reduce dependence on Russian fuel by 2027.
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