A complete embargo on Russian hydrocarbons is impossible for Europe, says Barbara Pompili
French Minister for Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili, who spoke during the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) during her visit to the United Nations in New York today, confirmed that the 27 are going to take “very tough measures because by the end of the year [on doit] we manage to do without two-thirds of our imports” of Russian gas.
She argued that the EU could not impose a complete embargo on the import of its hydrocarbons from Russia, as the US had decided. The UK has pledged to do so by the end of the year.
According to Ms. Pompili, who is scheduled to meet with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in Washington on Thursday, “President Biden himself said that the situation in the United States and Europe is not comparable and that he does not intend to ask us to do the same. solution”.
Russian oil makes up only 8% of US imports, and the United States does not import gas from Russia. The much more dependent EU is not ready to follow them.
To reduce European dependence – Russia accounts for 45% of European gas and coal imports and 25% of oil imports – without harming the economies of the most vulnerable countries, Brussels proposed to the G27 to diversify their supplies, increase reserves and reduce their energy consumption.
The roadmap will be discussed on Thursday and Friday by heads of state and government at the summit in Versailles. They must make a promise to “come out of [leur] dependence on imports of Russian gas, oil and coal,” but no timetable, according to the draft findings seen by AFP.
“This geopolitical crisis will continue and therefore (…) taking measures that will immediately have a very strong impact on our economy risks destabilizing our societies,” Ms. Pompili further warned, for whom “we cannot go from 40% to zero in five years. minutes.”