The European Commission
assesses the Energy Union’s progress, publishing the second State of the Energy
Union Report, something more than a year after the November 2015 report got
published.
According to the
Berlaymont’s assessment, the EU is “well on track to reach its 2020 targets” in
terms of greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.
Among other issues,
Vice-President and European Commissioner for Energy
Maros Sefcovic
was asked about the EU’s dependence on Gazprom imports. Sefcovic did not appear
concerned over the fact that Europe is importing more gas than ever from
Russia, as EU’s reduced energy consumption should make the bloc “less worried
about Gazprom than in the past”.
Sefcovic, however, reminded
that the Commission’s Statement of Objections to Gazprom for alleged abuse of
dominance on Central and Eastern European gas supply markets is still pending.
Brussels issued a Statement of Objections to Gazprom on April 2015 for imposing
territorial restrictions, pursuing an unfair pricing policy and making gas
supplies to Bulgaria and Poland conditional on obtaining unrelated commitments
from wholesalers concerning gas transport infrastructure.
On Tuesday’s Russia –
Ukraine relationship deterioration, Sefcovic said that the European Commission
is in regular contact with both sides: “We’re monitoring gas flows and, despite
the harsh winter, everything works fine,” said Sefcovic, reassuring reporters
that he is in close contact with both Russian and Ukrainian energy ministries.
Sefcovic: “EU’s gas
storage is stress-tested.”
“We have learned the
lessons of the past, we are better interconnected than before,” suggested the
Vice President, reassuring that the bloc’s “interconnectors, and gas storage
are stress-tested. We have a more liquid gas market. We may even be in a stronger
position.”
According to EU’s energy
chief, the situation on energy security has very much improved to 22 out of the
28 EU member states.
“My message to importers
is, you should be open to stiff competition. We want to ensure there are no
strings attached,” added Sefcovic.
Furthermore, with Australia
and the US leading the market in liquefied natural gas (LNG), Sefcovic
concluded that the EU looks forward to such a competition that would ensure EU
consumers fair prices, and make the EU less worried than in the past.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/sefcovic-eus-gas-storage-stress-tested/