Speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on European citizens to reduce their gas consumption because of the war in Ukraine, in a general mobilisation effort comparable to that to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
“What we did against Covid-19, we must do for Ukraine. It must be a mobilisation of minds, activities, individual attitudes in a collective commitment to tackle a task that is undoubtedly historic”, said the High Representative, using the example of turning down the heat.
He added, “the defence of liberal values will not be achieved without the political commitment of citizens”.
Moving away from energy dependence on Russia
He said the EU should use all possible means to reduce its energy dependence on Russia and, more broadly, cut the “umbilical cord” between the European economy and Russia that is allowing Moscow to finance the war in Ukraine.
In this respect, he welcomed the presentation the previous day of new guidelines by the European Commission aimed at, among other things, reducing Russian gas imports to the EU by two-thirds by the end of the year (see EUROPE 12906/4).
Like his colleague Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal, Mr Borrell made no secret of the fact that breaking the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels will not be painless.
“These will only be pipe dreams, theoretical and rhetorical statements, if we are not prepared to act in a more united, coordinated way and pay the price that inevitably accompanies any structural transformation, such as changing the energy mix of an entire continent”, he said.
This echoes the words of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who called for accelerated and strengthened efforts to “reduce our energy dependence on Russian gas and oil”, and to “synchronise Ukraine’s electricity network with that of continental Europe” (see EUROPE 12900/4), in a speech preceding Mr Borrell’s address.
Both also warned that the war in Ukraine would change the world in a lasting way, forcing the EU to rethink itself, not only in the energy sector but also in defence.
Strengthening the EU’s military capabilities
Ms Kallas and Mr Borrell called for strengthening the EU’s defence and security, while “working hand in hand with NATO”.
For Mr Borrell, this means building a common defence, not as an alternative to NATO, but as a complement.
While the latter welcomed Germany’s decision to increase its military spending, the Estonian Prime Minister said that the target of spending at least 2% of its GDP on military expenditure must “become an absolute minimum requirement”.
She went on to argue for planning and coordinating EU member states’ defence spending by focusing on capabilities that are too costly for any one member state to develop alone and by ensuring the mobility of European defence capabilities “so that we can move them quickly if necessary”.
She added: “We need to find a consensus in the EU that sometimes the best way to achieve peace is the determination to use military force”.
Supporting Ukraine
Ms Kallas and Mr Borrell also stressed the need to support Ukraine, whether by adopting sanctions against Russia or by sending military equipment.
In this respect, the Estonian Prime Minister pleaded to “give Ukraine a membership perspective”, considering it a moral duty.
“Ukraine is not fighting for itself, it is fighting for Europe”, she said.
MEPs’ reactions
Criticising the lack of political will on the part of Member States in the field of defence, Arnaud Danjean (France), representing the EPP group, urged the Commission to stop any attempt to subject the defence industry to taxonomy, social or environmental rules “which will dry up investment in a strategic sector”.
S&D group chair Iratxe García Pérez (Spain) called for the creation of strategic gas reserves, joint purchase of gas and the interconnection of the Iberian Peninsula as a storage and distribution centre, as well as the imposition of a tax on electricity companies that do not invest in renewable energy. She also stressed the need to agree on a system of solidarity-based distribution of refugees and to reflect on “a new migration policy based, this time, on responsibility and solidarity”.
For theRenew Europe group, Nathalie Loiseau (France) called for an end to Russian oil and gas, more arming of Ukraine and the building of a defence EU.
Calling on her colleagues not to think exclusively about the military when it comes to defence and security, Greens/EFA co-president Ska Keller (Germany) stressed the need to move the EU away from dependence on Russian gas, oil, coal and uranium, to reduce our energy consumption and to invest heavily in renewable energy and energy efficiency to ensure the EU’s energy security and dependence.
Jaak Madison (Estonia), on behalf of the Identity and Democracy Group, called for fighter planes to be sent to Ukraine, with the aim of “ending this war as soon as possible”.
The co-chairman of The Left group, Martin Schirdewan (Germany), expressed his fears that the war would spread to other countries and lead to an escalation between nuclear powers. Rather than armaments and military violence, he stressed the need for “effective sanctions against Putin and his oligarchs” as well as the need for “concrete disarmament measures, strengthening of international organisations and an end to weapons of mass destruction”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)