The European Council will call on Member States to replenish their gas storage “as of now” to ensure adequate levels of storage before next winter, according to draft conclusions, of which EUROPE received a copy, that the EU27 will adopt at the EU summit on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 March.
“Refilling of gas storage across the Union should start now”, Member States will stress.
Such a measure will help protect the Union from a gas shortage next winter, while energy prices are soaring and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has convinced Europeans to do without Russian hydrocarbons in order to stop financing the Russian war machine.
“The EU will phase out its dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal imports as soon as possible”, the EU27 will reiterate. The Commission says it believes that this objective is achievable as early as 2027.
The EU imports from Russia between 40 and 45% of its gas consumption, 46% of its coal consumption and 27% of its oil consumption.
At the Versailles Summit (see EUROPE 12909/1), the EU27 gave the Commission a mandate to come up with short-term measures to protect European consumers and businesses.
By the end of May, the EU institution is invited to present the RePowerEU action plan for: - diversifying supply sources (increased use of LNG, biogas); - developing the hydrogen market; - accelerating the development of renewable energies; - improving the interconnection of European gas and electricity networks; - reinforcing EU contingency planning for security of supply; - improving energy efficiency.
Among these proposals, the Commission will set a binding target of filling underground gas storage to at least 90% of capacity by 1 October of each year.
Defence. At the end of March, EU leaders will hold a new “strategic debate” on European defence and security policies, following on from the discussions held in Versailles.
On this occasion, the ‘Strategic Compass’ will be endorsed, setting out the instruments and initiatives that will guide the EU’s action in these areas for the next five to ten years (see EUROPE 12905/8).
To ensure European sovereignty, the EU27 will also call for strengthening the EU’s resilience in five strategic sectors of activity: raw materials, semiconductors, health, digital and food. They will also call for a deepening of the internal market, especially for the provision of services.
See the draft conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/RX (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)