In a preparatory document for the European Parliament hearing of the Commissioner-designate for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, on 5 November, the European Commission’s services are preparing a series of answers to questions previously put forward by MEPs (see EUROPE 13500/14).
Asked about the continuation of the REPowerEU strategy, the Commissioner-designate is expected to reiterate the objective of the Versailles Declaration to “phase out Russian fossil fuels dependency as soon as possible” and to announce the presentation of a roadmap in the first quarter of 2025 to put a definitive end to imports.
With regard to concerns about the recent increase in specific imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), Mr Jørgensen sought to reassure by pointing out that the continuing increase in the EU’s LNG import capacity, which will reach 235 billion m3 in 2024 and 260 billion m3 in 2026, means that the European Union can source more than 80% of its gas imports on world LNG markets.
“This is good news for further diversification and moving away from Russia’s fossil fuels. But we must and will go further”, says the document, without mentioning any specific support for the imposition of new sanctions (see EUROPE 13438/3).
Other issues include the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, the review of the Governance Regulation, the future action plan for electrification, the role of nuclear power and the AggregateEU mechanism for aggregating gas demand, which could be extended by 2025, via a new platform, to other sectors such as hydrogen, critical raw materials and, possibly, biomethane.
To see the document: https://aeur.eu/f/dxr (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)