EU Prioritizes Gazprom Probe

The European Commission is monitoring Russian gas producer Gazprom as MEPs questioned energy commissioner Kadri Simson on Tuesday evening about anti-competitive behaviours that were sending gas prices soaring.

Brussels has opened an investigation into possible anti-competitive behavior by Gazprom in the gas market amid a sharp spike in global prices. Russia is the largest supplier of natural gas to EU member states including Poland, Germany, France, Austria, and others.

Germany has now decided not to proceed with the certification process of Nord Stream 2, a project ultimately controlled by Gazprom, in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Nord Stream 2, one of the most controversial energy projects in recent decades, is a pipeline constructed to bypass Russia’s traditional export route through the Ukraine, allowing for Russian gas exports to travel below the Baltic sea and directly to German consumers. The project has often been flagged as a sign of Western Europe’s, and in particular Germany’s, dependence on Russian gas imports to meet their energy requirements.

Simson said the good news was that with mild weather and increased LPG (liquid petroleum gas) supplies, Europe could expect to be “on the safe side” for the 2022 winter.

Simson said Brussels wanted to reach full independence from Russian gas before the end of this decade. “We remain firmly on the same course of the green deal but we aim to move much faster. On renewables we must roll out renewable electricity in the sectors where gas dominates, this means insulating homes, installing heat pumps, solar PV’s and speeding up the completion of wind parks, solar power plants across the EU.”