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The European Commission has postponed for the second time the presentation of its strategic plan aimed at gradually reducing the European Union’s energy dependence on Russian resources. According to Reuters, the document was to be presented on 26 March, but its announcement has been postponed indefinitely.
The European Commission refused to comment on the reasons for the postponement.
Back in November, European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen said that the plan would be made public in the first 100 days after the new European Commission, which began its work on 1 December, took office. However, the date of the presentation has already been changed twice: First, it was postponed from February to March, and now it has been postponed indefinitely.
Why is this important?
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has embarked on a course to reduce Russian energy imports, setting a goal of completely cutting off Russian gas by 2027. However, this plan is not binding on member states, and some states have not yet been able to find sufficient alternatives.
Moreover, last year, Russian gas imports to the EU increased, although in 2023 they were declining.
The European Union has partially replaced Russian gas with liquefied natural gas (LNG), mainly from the United States. However, shipping LNG by sea is significantly more expensive than pipeline deliveries, which poses risks to the competitiveness of European industry.
The EU finds itself in a difficult situation: on the one hand, it wants to get rid of its dependence on Russian energy resources, and on the other hand, it is looking for ways to keep energy affordable for its businesses in order to compete with China and the United States, where energy prices are much lower
