In Aarhus (Denmark), on Friday 4 July, the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, told the press that he was doing his utmost to reassure Slovakia about its security of energy supply, in the context of the ‘REPowerEU’ roadmap aimed at banning all imports of Russian fossil fuels (gas, oil, nuclear) by the end of 2027 (see EUROPE 13634/1).
He referred in particular to the meeting held the day before, on 3 July in Bratislava, between the European Commission and the Slovak Ministry of Economy, as well as industry representatives.
“We are very well prepared. We’ll see if we can get the government’s support for the ‘REPowerEU’ proposal. I really hope so. But even if that’s not the case, I have an obligation to help as much as I can”, he stated.
According to the Slovakian Minister of Economy, Denisa Saková, this exchange with the Director-General, Ditte J. Jørgensen, was “an important step towards finding solutions that take account of the specific characteristics of each Member State in terms of diversifying sources of supply”.
Ms Saková also said that she was prepared to continue to “adopt a constructive approach” to the measures proposed and to continue the debate between experts.
In a press release, the Slovak side stressed that it had succeeded in obtaining a series of concessions in the context of the Commission’s legislative proposal of 17 June targeting gas contracts (see EUROPE 13661/5), such as the addition of a clause enabling the ban on Russian gas supplies to be suspended in the event of negative developments in a Member State.
Asked about other concessions, such as financial compensation (see EUROPE 13641/28), Commissioner Jørgensen said that the Commission was not negotiating “new specific subsidies or anything else”, but that it was helping to ensure that “the supply of oil and gas to Slovakia and other countries concerned is stable”.
It now remains to be seen whether this progress will be sufficient for Slovakia to approve the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, which it is linking to assurances concerning the ‘REPowerEU’ proposal (see EUROPE 13669/16). A further meeting of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), on Friday 4 July, failed to reach agreement on this point. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys and Camille-Cerise Gessant)