Following the "energy card" with the United States, the European Union is facing difficult winter

As the summer is approaching, the natural gas for winter reserves has become an important matter that many European countries need to face. However, the natural gas reserve rate of EU member states is very different, and the way to alleviate the rise in energy prices is not the same. According to Agence France -Presse, the EU Energy Minister Special Meeting recently held in Brussels, Belgium. The EU Minister of Energy Agreement agreed to formulate relevant emergency measures as soon as possible. There are great differences in the state of opinion.

Energy dilemma shrouded the EU

Reuters recently reported that according to a meeting issued by the EU's rotating chairman of the Czech Republic, at the EU Minister of Energy's meeting, a proposal to restrict Russia's natural gas prices has not won widespread support from EU countries. In order to cope with the rise in energy prices, ministers of various countries require the European Union Commission to prepare other emergency measures, such as the upper limit of natural gas prices that stipulates a wider range of natural gas, rather than specifically for Russia.

It is reported that the emergency measures proposed by the European Commission to launch include: coordinate EU member states to reduce power demand; the upper limit of income settings of low -cost power generation companies, taxation of fossil fuel power generation companies; formulate emergency and temporary intervention measures, including considering considerations Set up the price limit for natural gas.

Since the outbreak of Russia and Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have caused a series of chain reactions to Russia's tough sanctions. Affected by factors such as the significant reduction of Russian natural gas flow to European natural gas flow and the extreme climate of high temperature and drought in Europe, European natural gas prices and electricity prices have repeatedly reached a record high, the energy supply is tight, the inflation situation is severe, and the cost of people's living costs has increased sharply.

On September 2nd, Russia's Natural Gas Industry Co., Ltd. announced that due to the discovery of leakage in maintenance work, the "Beixi -1" natural gas pipeline could not be restored on September 3 on September 3. Reuters reports that after Russia announced that "Beixi -1" will be closed indefinitely, European natural gas prices have skyrocketed by nearly 30%, which once again triggers people's concerns about the shortage of natural gas supply and distribution methods this winter. Agence France -Presse reported that 40%of the EU's natural gas supply before the Russian and Ukraine conflict came from Russia. Germany, the largest EU EU, which relies on Russia's natural gas, is currently trying to provide heating and electricity for families and factories across the country.

Different interests affect consensus

Earlier, the European Union requested that before November 1 this year, the natural gas reserves of EU member states must reach at least 80%of the total capacity. On August 30, the Chairman of the European Commission Feng Delin said that the EU's natural gas reserve rate has reached 80.4%, and it is advancing at the normal reserve speed of previous years. This means that the European Union has completed the current gas storage goal at this stage. At the same time, the situation of the EU member states is different. Italy, Hungary and other countries have been lower than the average level of the past.

"Energy dependence of EU member states is particularly dependent on Russia, especially for Russia. Hungary, Czech Republic and other Central and Eastern European countries have a high degree of dependence on Russia's energy. The degree of dependence is low; the high degree of dependence on Russia's natural gas on Russia is affected by historical reasons and the division of location resources. "Wang Yili, the director of the EU Research Center of Renmin University of China, was analyzed in an interview with the People's Daily Overseas Edition reporter.

"At the Special Meeting of the EU Energy Minister, countries have not been able to reach a consensus on Russia's issues, reflecting the differences between the interests between EU member states and the unable to fundamentally resolve the issue of Russian energy." Following the United States to play the "energy card" in an attempt to drag the Russian economy and make Russia yield, but the actual effect did not meet the expectations, but made the EU face a difficult winter. On the one hand, the European Union is trying to decompose with Russia's energy, which greatly increases the production costs of European companies, affects the international competitiveness of German manufacturing, and the EU re -industrialization process is blocked. On the other hand, this move disrupted the pace of European energy transformation. In developed countries such as Germany, European developed countries began to restart traditional energy sources such as coal power and nuclear power. The EU's process of climate change issues did not retreat.

Germany, the EU's "locomotive", has fallen into economic difficulties due to energy deficiency. Data from the German Federal Bureau of Statistics have many times in recent months, and the surge in energy prices is the main driving force for rising inflation in Germany. According to a recent survey results of economists, Reuters may have shrunk for three consecutive quarters from this quarter. If the German economy falls into decline, it will bring a chain reaction to the entire Europe.

It is difficult to determine in the winter

The EU's rotating chairman of the Czech Republic of Industry and Trade Joseph Sikra said at a press conference that the EU Minister of Energy's Special Meeting reached an agreement on the common direction of emergency measures. The European Commission will make powerful and practical suggestions in a few days to do everything possible to help people and enterprises facing high energy prices. The European Commission is expected to announce the specific details of the emergency measures next week, and will be discussed by the governments of all member states. The EU Energy Minister will hold a meeting again to negotiate and approve the final version.

In order to cope with the lack of energy and rising prices, EU member states mainly implement subsidy policies, such as Germany's energy subsidies of 65 billion euros, including public transport subsidies, special subsidies for individuals, to alleviate low -income families, students and SMEs. Economic pressure in front of energy rising. France, Italy and other EU countries have also issued corresponding subsidy policies. "At present, the European Union tries to reduce the impact on Russian energy dependence through comprehensive measures for open source." Wang Yili analyzed, open source is mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East countries such as Nigeria, Qatar, Israel, etc., and increased the natural gas imported from the United States. Improving the decentralization and diversification of energy import sources, while vigorously developing new energy sources such as wind power. Surging is mainly to reduce energy waste and improve energy use efficiency through smart grids, smart energy and other methods.

Dong Yifan, a scholar of the European Institute of Modern International Relations, said in an interview with the People's Daily's overseas version of the reporter that there is still greater uncertainty if the EU can have been safe in winter. On the one hand, although the EU has set a goal of decreased by 15%of consumption and natural gas reserves to reach 80%, these amounts are based on the ideal state. In the international natural gas market, whether this goal can achieve greater uncertainty. At the same time, the current EU's overall energy system has a certain unstable. In the case of insufficient renewable energy power generation, the EU must be supplemented through traditional energy, and natural gas consumption is likely to exceed the original expectations. On the other hand, even if the natural gas reserve rate "meets the standard", it does not mean that it is safe. Although Germany said that the natural gas reserve rate reached 85%and the average level of the EU, its energy scarce situation was still severe. High energy prices have seriously affected German industrial production, and many companies have reduced production.

Jonarson Stan, director of the Oxford Energy Research Institute, believes that "the EU has not enough natural gas as a whole. Although the storage capacity of Germany has reached 85%, there is one that you can transport natural gas from the place where it stored to it to the need for it. The problem of the local area. For example, although France has a liquefied natural gas terminal, it cannot provide natural gas to Germany. "

"At present, the European Union is mainly based on the issue of energy scarcity, mainly to protect supply, and the measures that can be implemented in terms of stable prices are limited, and lack of strong grasping points. Because the EU mainly focuses on regulating the balance of supply and demand in the European Union, it has not effectively solved the energy shortage caused by energy scarcity. The problem of inflation and economic and people's livelihood is difficult to find effective relief methods in the short term. As the EU's input inflation continues to intensify, the operating pressure and the burden of people's life may be further increased. The negative emotions and protests of the public may spread. It has caused an impact on the status of the EU's economy and people's livelihood. "Dong Yifan said. (Reporter Gao Qiao)

Original title: Not far from the winter, how can Europe solve the "urgency of gas"? (Global hotspot)

"People's Daily Overseas Edition" (September 15, 2022)

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