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17 Jan - Davos 2023: EU to counter U.S. climate game changer with own green deal

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17 Jan - Davos 2023: EU to counter U.S. climate game changer with own green deal

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Maha El Dahan and  Jan Strupczewski

Streamline the process of welcoming new sustainable energy

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DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The European Union responded on Tuesday to U.S. moves to boost its energy transition with its own plans to make life easier for green industry, saying it would mobilize state aid and a sovereignty fund to keep firms from moving to the United States.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos that the moves would be part of the EU's Green Deal industrial plan to make Europe a centre for clean technology and innovation.

"The aim will be to focus investment on strategic projects along the entire supply chain. We will especially look at how to simplify and fast-track permitting for new clean tech production sites," she said in a speech at the meeting.

"To keep European industry attractive, there is a need to be competitive with the offers and incentives that are currently available outside the EU," von der Leyen added.

Earlier, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol told a WEF panel that energy security was now the biggest driver of climate investment.

Birol said the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed by President Joe Biden last year, would drive investment into cleaner energy and represented the most important climate deal since the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

This view was echoed by Larry Fink, chief executive of the world's biggest asset manager BlackRock, who told an event on the sidelines of the WEF meeting that moves by the U.S. government to finance a faster shift in the world's biggest economy, through the IRA was a "game changer".

'MONEY, MONEY, MONEY'

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told a separate panel on financing the transition to a low carbon economy that the only way to avoid catastrophic damage caused by climate change was for governments and companies to spend big.

"How do we get there? The lesson I have learned in the last years ... is money, money, money, money, money, money, money," Kerry said of what was needed for the world to stand any chance of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

While European countries have welcomed the new commitment to energy transition by Biden's administration, some fear it may disadvantage their companies.

"I understand the importance of the Act from a U.S. perspective but on the other side I should also think about European interests," Jozef Sikela, the Czech minister of industry and trade, said on the same WEF panel as Birol.

Europe's energy crisis, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, has been felt across the 27-member EU, with gas prices almost 90% higher last year than the year before.

Sikela said European households and industries were paying the biggest bill for the global energy crisis, while the new U.S. legislation would pull away investors and force governments into a "dangerous" competition on subsidies.

'TARGETED SUPPORT'

Von der Leyen later told reporters that the proposed fund - an idea she first raised in September which does not yet have the support of all EU governments, notably Germany - would disburse both grants and loans.

She said that as the EU prepares to set up this fund - aimed at making domestic industries more competitive, especially against U.S. and Asian businesses - a bridging solution for the financing of green industry would also involve loans and grants.

"We need a very clear message and signal now to the clean-tech industry that Europe is their home and future and it's worth to invest here," she told reporters in Davos.

"As this will take some time, we will look at a bridging solution to provide fast and targeted support where it is most needed," she said, without giving any details, adding that the Commission was pinning down the needs of the green industry.

Vicki Hollub, chief executive of U.S. oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), earlier called the U.S. legislation one of the most transformative bills ever signed.

But she rounded on European governments for taxing fossil fuel firms that were also developing renewable energy.

"With all due respect to Europe, I hate to say it but I have to say it, imposing windfall profit tax on the oil companies that are doing their best to grow wind and solar in Europe was not the smartest move, in my opinion," Hollub said.

Subsidies are very important for the development of new technologies, she told the WEF panel with Birol and Sikela.

(For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing here)

Additional reporting by John Irish and Lananh Nguyen in Davos; Editing by Leela de Kretser, Andrew Heavens, Alex Richardson and Alexander Smith

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Davos 2023: EU to counter U.S. climate game changer with own green deal

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The European Union responded on Tuesday to U.S. moves to boost its energy transition with its own plans to make life easier for green industry, saying it would mobilize state aid and a sovereignty fund to keep firms from moving to the United States.

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17 Jan - Need for speed as EU launches debate on electricity market reform

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17 Jan - Need for speed as EU launches debate on electricity market reform

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Kira Taylor
Freelance journalist and moderator
Brussels, Belgium

Euractive - non-profit founded by Christophe Leclercq

The energy market will be overhauled to promote equity and respond to the new more sustainable and homegrown energy sources.

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The European Union needs to reform its electricity market as quickly as possible in order to stabilise prices for consumers and stimulate investment in renewables, EU politicians have told EURACTIV.

In response to soaring energy bills, the European Commission is preparing an overhaul of its electricity market with the objective of spreading the benefits of cheap renewables to all consumers.

"The current crisis has shown how vulnerable the current design of the electricity market is to stress situations, as well as the tremendous consequences for domestic consumers and, undoubtedly, a total risk of demand destruction due to the increase in energy poverty," Teresa Ribera, the Spanish minister for the ecological transition, wrote in an opinion piece for EURACTIV.

Speaking to EURACTIV in Abu Dhabi during the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) assembly, Ribera said that "we need to provide an answer that gives reasons to support this transformation" both for investors and consumers.

The European Commission is expected to table its market reform proposal in March, preceded by a public consultation, which is due out in the coming days.

EU countries are also looking into the reform and will start discussions on Tuesday (17 January) in an energy working group led by the Swedish EU Council presidency.

National representatives are invited to give their views on questions like how to ensure new, clean power generation is brought to the market and how to shield consumers from excessive price volatility.

A future-proof power market

Last year, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) concluded that the EU's wholesale electricity market was working as intended and even helped mitigate rising energy prices.

But according to Ribera, it is "very clear" that the EU's electricity market design is not future-proof.

"We need to update this regulation and we need to provide the right signals because, otherwise, it's not clear that we can ensure the security of supply," she told EURACTIV.

Under the current design, the cheapest electricity is fed into the grid first, followed by "marginal" production capacity - usually gas power plants - that can be fired up at short notice to meet peak demand.

This marginal pricing system came under heavy criticism by France and Spain, which have little electricity production from gas and rely instead on cheaper low-carbon power generation coming from nuclear or renewables.

Although they require significant initial investments, renewables "have practically zero variable operating costs", Ribera noted. "Yet consumers do not benefit from this in the current model, which was designed in different times."

According to her, the current pricing system, based on operational costs, does not provide the incentives necessary to drive new renewable energy projects, as well as investments in storage and backup technologies.

In short, the "current electricity markets will not deliver clean electricity," according to a Spanish paper on the reform, obtained by EURACTIV.

Using long-term contracts to stabilise prices

The EU now needs to work out how to secure incentives for green investment and keep prices low for citizens, Polish climate undersecretary Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński told EURACTIV at the IRENA assembly.

"We need, indeed, to think in the long term, how can you secure the appropriate incentives for the investments we need to reduce emissions in the energy sector to happen, and at the same time, secure low cost for our society, for our citizens, for our economy to remain competitive at the global level," he said.

One way to do this, he explained, is to use long-term contracts that can stabilise prices, especially for large industrial consumers that require high volumes of energy.

Power purchase agreements and contracts for difference, for instance, would help to ensure both a competitive supply of clean electricity and appropriate returns for investors, Guibourgé-Czetwertyński argued.

Madrid appears to agree. In its paper, Spain argued in favour of using contracts for difference to create a stable price for investors and consumers, as well as using long,-term contracts for storage and demand response, to ensure these are invested in and can balance out renewables in the future.

German minister Robert Habeck has signalled his support for the Spanish proposal, saying it is a "very interesting proposal" and a good basis for discussion, according to Bloomberg.

However, the Spanish proposal was criticised by the European electricity industry association Eurelectric, which said it risked scaring off investors.

"The concrete measures in the Spanish proposal involve a heavy centralisation that would kill market-based investments in renewables, especially smaller projects, and cripple innovation," said Kristian Ruby, Eurelectric's secretary general.

Timmermans: Don't throw baby out with bathwater

EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, for his part, seems to side with the Spanish view.

"If renewables become ever cheaper and fossil fuel remains very expensive, then the consumers of electricity would, in the present situation, pay a lot for electricity - whereas electricity on balance is getting cheaper," he told EURACTIV while in Abu Dhabi.

"That needs to be reflected in the design, so that it reflects the market as it is developing and not the market as it was," he said in an exclusive interview.

The European Commission also wants to ensure the benefits of the current market design are not undermined by the reform.

"If we'd done what some have asked over the last, let's say, six months last year and just gone for a quick fix, then we might have created an avalanche of consequences that would have been worse than the present situation," Timmermans told EURACTIV.

"It took 30 years to design this market. Let's make sure we don't throw out the baby with the bathwater when we change it," he warned.

Guibourgé-Czetwertyński also told EURACTIV that the EU needs to be "prudent" and make sure changes do not remove incentives for investors.

Timeline for market reform

Unlike the emergency measures that were rushed into law last year, the electricity market reform will be a slower process as it will include much longer deliberations by both EU countries and the European Parliament.

"If our proposal is convincing, it can go relatively quickly. But the reality is that member states are not all in the same position in their electricity markets," said Timmermans. "We have to make sure we find a solution that would reflect the interests of all of the member states," he added.

France, meanwhile, is pushing to go as fast as possible. According to the newspaper Les Echos, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire wants parts of the reform to be adopted within the next six months.

Ribera said she was "not sure if this is realistic, but that would be fantastic".

Such a quick turnaround would require a proposal to be tabled as soon as possible and negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU countries to be accelerated, according to Pascal Canfin, a French lawmaker in the European Parliament.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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Need for speed as EU launches debate on electricity market reform

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The European Union needs to reform its electricity market as quickly as possible in order to stabilise prices for consumers and stimulate investment in renewables, EU politicians have told EURACTIV. In response to soaring energy bills, the European Commission is preparing an overhaul of its electricity market with the objective of spreading the benefits of cheap renewables to all consumers.

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17 Jan - EU unveils green industrial plan to counter US and Chinese competition

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17 Jan - EU unveils green industrial plan to counter US and Chinese competition

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Wester Van Gaal
Brussels, Amsterdam
Specializes in EU Politics, Climate, and Green finance

Euobserver - Belgium non-profit

Europe responds to American IRA with a Net-Zero Industry Act to incentivize green energy to come to/stay in Europe

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European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday (17 January) a plan to boost subsidies and tax breaks for clean-tech companies in the face of US and Chinese competition.

"China has been openly encouraging energy-intensive companies in Europe and elsewhere to relocate all or part of their production," she said, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "To get ahead of our competition, we need to make Europe more investment friendly."

The EU intends to respond "more robustly" and to that end has proposed a new 'Net-Zero Industry Act,' inspired by the EU's chips act last year, which will fasttrack clean-tech production sites and increase funding for strategic sectors.

The International Energy Agency estimates the clean-tech sector will be worth €600bn annually in 2030, and von der Leyen said the EU only has a "small window" to invest and stake its claim before the "fossil-fuel economy becomes obsolete."

The European push for clean tech is primarily a response to the US Inflation Reduction Act approved by congress in the summer, which directs about $369bn [€340bn] to clean energy and energy-security programmes.

The EU itself does not have the same financial firepower and needs to negotiate with member states on how to relax the bloc's state-aid rules best.

These rules are meant to prevent unfair competition within Europe as Germany could outspend all other countries, wiping away their industries.

To protect against so-called "fragmentation," von der Leyen reiterated her determination to propose a new European fund financed by fresh EU borrowing, backed by all the member states.

The proposal is due in the summer, but it is still being determined whether a majority of member states support it. Germany, the Nordic countries and the Netherlands traditionally oppose new EU debt, preferring to use existing European funds first.

But this argument may not convince others this time, as state-aid rules have already been relaxed in response to the energy crisis (and the pandemic before that), which has benefitted Germany especially.

In 2022, Brussels approved 170 national emergency state aid applications, which accounted for €540bn. Over 50 percent was allocated to Germany, under 30 percent to France. Only four percent went to Italy, which has the second-highest industrial output in Europe, far outstripping France.

"[A sovereignty fund] is essential if we want to strengthen our competitiveness without undermining our internal market and its level playing field," Italian commissioner for economy Paolo Gentiloni said. "It's not about a subsidies war with other countries or the US. It's about the strengthening of European competitiveness."

Realistic

Von der Leyen made her announcement against the background of ongoing efforts by EU negotiators to convince their US counterparts to extend some subsidies and tax breaks to EU companies-especially electric vehicles. Von der Leyen also called on the US to set "fair" incentives so "we can jointly benefit."

But trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovkis, who is leading the negotiations, said the EU "has to be realistic" about the US adapting its policy to EU wishes.

Speaking ahead of his meeting with US trade representative Katherine Tai in Brussels on Tuesday, he said, "not all our problems with the Inflation Reduction Act will be solved, so we still need to see what the European policy response should be."

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EU unveils green industrial plan to counter US and Chinese competition

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European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday (17 January) a plan to boost subsidies and tax breaks for clean-tech companies in the face of US and Chinese competition. "China has been openly encouraging energy-intensive companies in Europe and elsewhere to relocate all or part of their production," she said, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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17 Jan - Europe looks to challenge US, China with green industrial revolution

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17 Jan - Europe looks to challenge US, China with green industrial revolution

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Saul Elbein
Washington D.C., USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Covers Land, Energy, and Resources

"both carrots and sticks are on the table"
US entices elsewhere with large subsidies
China promises resources, cheap labor, and lenient regulation
Europe responds with subsidies and streamlined approval for green energy sources

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AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

The E.U. plans to fight for its place in the clean energy race.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday that the European Union will create extensive new clean energy subsidies to keep firms from moving to the U.S. and China.

The goal is for the E.U. to become a leader in the transition to a clean economy and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 - and von der Leyen said that both carrots and sticks were on the table.

"The net-zero transformation is already causing huge industrial, economic and geopolitical shifts - by far the quickest and the most pronounced in our lifetime," der Leyen said. "It is changing the nature of work and the shape of our industry."

The E.U.'s "Green Deal" industrial plan aims to make Europe a center for clean technology and innovation and to counter aggressive attempts to attract E.U. industrial capacities away to China and elsewhere.

In particular, the E.U. worries that its green tech firms will move to the United States, which last summer passed a $369 billion scheme to subsidize green production.

But she also singled out China, which she said "dominates global production in sectors like electric vehicles or solar panels ... with the promise of cheap energy, low labor costs and a more lenient regulatory environment."

The E.U.'s plans appear to involve heavy subsidies of its own to compete with the U.S. and China. Von der Leyen also announced that the organization will temporarily adapt the E.U. state aid rules to speed up and simplify permitting for clean energy production.

"We know we have a small window to invest in clean tech and innovation to gain leadership before the fossil fuel economy becomes obsolete," she said.

She also connected the drive to attempts to wean the continent off Russian gas.

"In less than a year, Europe has overcome this dangerous dependency," she said, noting that the continent had "replaced around 80 percent of Russian pipeline gas."

But the move of clean energy firms to the U.S. and China worried her.

"For rare earths, which are vital for manufacturing key technologies - like wind power generation, hydrogen storage or batteries - Europe is today 98 percent dependent on one country - China," she said.

She also pointed to lithium, for which three countries - Australia, Chile and China - control 90 percent of production, leading to "incredibly tight" supply chains.

"This has pushed up prices and is threatening our competitiveness. So, we need to improve the refining, processing and recycling of raw materials here in Europe ... without creating new dependencies," she said.

It's not clear yet how much money will be given for the new clean energy subsidies - that figure will be part of the budget review later this year.

Schumer calls on House GOP to unveil proposed spending cuts in debt ceiling negotiations More Oath Keepers found guilty of seditious conspiracy for role in Jan. 6

But the E.U. has already given 672 billion euros (about $725 billion) for member states to deal with the impact of the war in Ukraine - making it likely that a" massive" amount will be given for this new clean energy plan, The Associated Press reported.

The E.U. is also creating a new Net-Zero Industry Act as part of the Green Deal industrial plan. This act will focus on investments in projects along the entire supply chain, like simplifying and fast-tracking permits for new clean technology production sites.

A European sovereignty fund will also be created as part of the budget review. This fund will be used to avoid a fragmenting effect on the single market - which could be caused if national governments create their own subsidy regimes - and to support the clean tech transition across the whole bloc.

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Europe looks to challenge US, China with green industrial revolution

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The E.U. plans to fight for its place in the clean energy race. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday that the European Union will create extensive new clean energy subsidies to keep firms from moving to the U.S.

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The EU has fundamentally reframed its energy policy in response to the energy crisis, broadening its focus from just climate to now also consider geopolitics, global industrial competitiveness and energy poverty.

This paper outlines energy crisis measures taken by the EU so far as well as further planned initiatives. The thematically organised appendix provides more details on measures regarding diversification and security of supply, alternative forms of energy, energy demand reduction, energy prices and new funding opportunities.

Energy Crisis from 2021-2023

As the European Union reopened following the pandemic, the economy rebounded, driving up energy prices. Low levels of stored gas also exacerbated prices as the EU entered the heating season. Russian gas exports also dropped in 2021, with a 24% drop in supplies between October and December 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020, which had already been relatively low due to the impact of the pandemic.

To fulfill contracts, Gazprom utilised gas storage available in the EU, without refilling it sufficiently to make up for the used resources. In December 2021, gas prices hit a record high of €180 per MWh following a reversal of gas flow in the prominent Yamal pipeline.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine unfolded, energy prices skyrocketed. Russia instrumentalised the EU's heavy dependence on Russian natural gas imports to wage an energy war, throttling or cutting off supplies for EU countries that adhered to the sanctions and refused to pay in rubles.

European import of Russian gas has fallen sharply, from the historic average of around 40% of all gas consumption to 17.5% by September 2022. However, this sharp turn away from cheap Russian supplies, coupled with shortages in storage, triggered an extreme natural gas price spike of over €300/MWh as the EU scrambled to international markets to prepare its storage for the winter ahead.

This price peak also affected inflation and general power prices, due to the merit-order based electricity market model, where gas-generated electricity sets the price at times of high demand. Aside from the economic effects of these price rises, EU countries also dramatically increased public expenditure and debt in order to shield consumers from the effects of the volatility in global gas markets.

After the August peak, prices steadily declined - helped by full storage, ample LNG supplies, demand reduction, fears of a global recession and unusually warm weather from October 2022 to December 2022.

Natural gas prices notably dropped to around 64€/MWh in early 2023, as temperatures rose, demand diminished and storage remained full. Given that European gas storage levels were still at 83% as of 1 January 2023, supply shortage risks in the peak 2022/23 season declined considerably.

However, risks for the future persist and, in the near- to medium-term, gas prices will likely remain higher than in the past. Furthermore, the increased reliance on LNG ensures higher pricing for the foreseeable future, while also being prone to more international competition, particularly when China reopens. The peak 2023/24 season is particularly exposed to this risk.

In this context, the EU will follow up on the raft of 2022 emergency measures and look to increase the resilience of its energy system while continuing to decouple from Russia.

The EU Response - Overview

RePowerEU, which was presented on 18 May 2022 and set out the European approach to the energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The focus of this policy package was on saving energy, diversifying energy supply, accelerating clean energy rollout, and investment and reform measures to achieve independence from Russian fossil fuels by 2027.

Save Gas for a Safe Winter, which was presented on 20 July 2022 and aims to reduce gas use in Europe by 15% by 31 March 2023. The demand reduction plan focuses on fuel switching away from gas, promoting saving non-critical gas for electricity and heat, reducing consumption by industry and reducing heating and cooling in buildings.

The Emergency Intervention to address high energy prices, which was presented on 14 September 2022 and aims to mitigate the current price increases for electricity and gas by further reducing demand for electricity, implementing a cap on market revenue for cheaper energy sources such as renewables and initiating a solidarity contribution from the fossil industry. The profits derived from these measures will be used to ease the burden of energy prices for households and commercial players alike.

The regulations on enhanced solidarity on gas purchases, accelerated renewable energy deployment and the market correction mechanism, which were adopted on 19 December 2022 and seek to address concerns related to the gas market. This package proposes default solidarity rules between EU countries, joint purchasing mechanisms, new complementary LNG benchmarks, an intraday volatility management mechanism, as well as a price cap on wholesale gas trade within the EU. The regulations also streamlined permitting for renewable energy.

The EU responded to the energy crisis with a range of different policy measures. This included longer term energy policy changes and amendments to major files such as the renewable energy directive, as well as temporary, short term measures through Council Regulations, which only require Council approval and can be adopted in a shorter timeframe.

Diversification of supply

Security of supply

Alternative forms of energy

Energy demand reduction

Energy prices

New funding opportunities

The main policy packages presented in 2022 were:

These packages can be broken down into six different themes that summarise how the EU aims to address the ongoing energy crisis:

A breakdown by theme can be found below the next steps section.

What's to Come - Next Steps

Operationalisation of demand aggregation and joint purchasing

Accelerated discussions with reliable partners on long-term supply contracts

Efficient filling of gas storage facilities, as well as close monitoring of demand reduction objectives and filling trajectories

Early preparation of contingency plans for winter 2023/2024

While natural gas prices have currently returned to pre-war levels following the warm winter and ample storage capacity levels, this is likely a temporary effect of lower-than-usual demand, economic slowdown due to inflation and fears of recession and government sell-off of excess natural gas.

The revision of the EU's internal electricity market rules, set to be presented in Q1 2023

Creation of an EU Hydrogen Bank, to be presented in Q3 2023

Reflecting this temporary reprieve, the European Council called for strengthened EU coordination with special attention to the following priorities:

Aside from these points, the Commission's work programme for 2023 also includes two significant energy initiatives set to address the needs of the European energy system:
Diversification of supply

REPowerEU: The REPowerEU plan, presented by the Commission on 18 May, set out a number of measures that impact the diversification of supply, such as the EU Energy Platform Task Force. Some other measures proposed in this plan included:

An obligation for diversification

Joint gas & hydrogen purchasing (later presented through the Enhanced Solidarity on Gas Purchases regulation)

EU IT tool for demand aggregation and infrastructure transparency

Memorandums of understanding with partner countries

EU Energy Platform Task Force: On 25 May, the Commission established the EU Energy Platform Task Force, a platform that is tasked with working with international suppliers and managing voluntary gas purchases.

Seaborne crude oil & petroleum products ban: On 30 May, the European Council agreed on sanctions that included a crude oil ban from Russia to Member States, excluding crude oil delivered by pipeline. The ban on crude oil took effect after six months, with products set to follow after eight months.

Council Regulation on enhancing solidarity on gas purchases: The Council Regulation introduced a number of measures looking to improve diversification of supply. Measures that impacted the capacity of the EU to diversify its gas suppliers include:

A temporary joint purchasing tool, set to come into force in early spring 2023, which allows for the following options:

Demand aggregation of gas purchasing companies

Joint purchasing through the EU Energy Platform

Ad hoc governance arrangements that oversee aggregation and purchasing

LNG and Storage Transparency Platforms to improve the functioning of gas infrastructure given changes in flows

Security of supply

European gas storage policy: In order to account for the invasion of Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty in gas supplies, the EU adopted changes to two existing regulations on security of gas supply and access to natural gas transmission networks on 27 June 2022. Via these changes, the EU sought to achieve a filling level of 80% of capacity of underground gas storage before the 2022/2023 winter and 90% of capacity before the following winter periods. This filling obligation will expire on 31 December 2025.

Council Regulation on enhancing solidarity on gas purchases: The Council Regulation introduced a number of measures looking to maintain energy security, which includes default rules for bilateral solidarity between member states in case of shortages.

Alternative forms of energy

REPowerEU: The REPowerEU plan, presented by the Commission on 18 May, set out a number of measures that improve the roll-out of alternative forms of energy, such as:

Renewable Energy Directive: Changed target to 45% by 2030 and introduced a Solar roof top initiative

Biomethane action plan, including higher biomethane production and import objectives

Hydrogen targets and regulatory framework, including 27 billion in direct investment in the hydrogen economy

Solar strategy to double solar PV capacity by 2025 with 600GW installed capacity by 2030

Simplified permitting procedures proposal (later presented through the accelerated renewable energy deployment proposal)

Council Regulation on accelerating the deployment of renewable energy: This council regulation, which was adopted by the Council of the European Union on 19 December, frontloads certain segments of the amended Renewable Energy Directive introduced in REPowerEU, with an aim to greatly accelerate permitting for new renewable energy projects, repowering of existing renewable energy projects and the deployment of heat pumps.

Energy demand reduction

REPowerEU: The REPowerEU plan, presented by the Commission on 18 May, set out a number of measures that impact energy demand reduction, such as

Awareness campaigns

The EU Save Energy communication, suggestion methods to voluntarily save energy

Energy Efficiency Directive: Changed target to 13% by 2030, up from the previously proposed 9%

Ecodesign and energy labelling improvements: EU-coordinated demand reduction plan (later presented through the Save Gas for a Safe Winter plan)

Save Gas for a Safe Winter: The Save Gas for a Safe Winter plan, presented by the Commission on 20 July, sought to address the threat of gas shortages following reduced natural gas deliveries from Russia. This included the following measures:

Council Regulation on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas, which implements a voluntary natural gas demand reduction target of at least 15% between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023, among other tools such as a Union Alert on security of supply

The European Gas Demand Reduction Plan, which sets out measures, principles and criteria for coordinated demand reduction, with a focus on industrial fuel switching, energy-saving auctions, awareness campaigns and definitions of critical consumers

Emergency Intervention to address high energy prices: The Emergency Intervention, which was presented on 14 September 2022, proposed a number of measures that sought to alleviate the pressure of rising energy prices. The Intervention includes a voluntary overall reduction target of 10% of gross electricity consumption and a mandatory reduction target of 5% of the electricity consumption in peak hours.

Council Regulation on enhancing solidarity on gas purchases: The Council Regulation further stressed the importance of demand reduction, extending the reduction period past March 2023 if needed.

Energy prices

Emergency Intervention to address high energy prices: The Emergency Intervention, which was presented on 14 September 2022, proposed a number of measures that sought to alleviate the pressure of rising energy prices. These include:

Inframarginal market revenue cap: This cap on market revenues, which is set at €180/MWh, targets the high profits of technologies with low operating costs that sell electricity at the prices defined by gas-fired electricity generation. These include renewables, nuclear and lignite. Any profit over the cap is then collected by Member States, with these profits then redirected towards supporting and protecting final electricity customers.

Solidarity contribution for fossil fuel sector: This solidarity contribution imposes a tax on the taxable profits of businesses active in crude petroleum, natural gas, coals and refineries. This contribution is set to at least 33% of taxable profits in 2022 and 2023 which exceed 20% of average taxable profits of the previous four fiscal years. These funds are then repurposed for financial support measures for households and companies, as well as general financing.

Council Regulation on enhancing solidarity on gas purchases: The Council Regulation also tackled higher prices, particularly by proposing the establishment of a new complementary LNG benchmark which would be priced independently from natural gas bought via pipeline, as well as the implementation of a new intra-day volatility management system, aiming to limit extreme price spikes in the wholesale natural gas markets.

Russian oil price cap: In agreement with the G7, the EU implemented an oil price cap on crude oil and petroleum oils originating or exported from Russia, set at $60/barrel.

Council Regulation establishing a market correction mechanism: This Council Regulation, adopted by the Council of the European Union on 19 December, will implement a price cap on gas when the price on the TTF (the most-important European gas exchange) exceeds €180/MWh for 3 days, or if the TTF price is €35 higher than a global reference price for three days. This market correction mechanism is meant to avoid the high prices reached during the August peak.

New funding opportunities
REPowerEU: The REPowerEU plan, presented by the Commission on 18 May, set out a number of measures which also introduced new funding opportunities, such as through Potential Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI), the Innovation fund and dedicated funding through the Recovery & Resilience Facility.

Meanwhile, the situation remains fluid and susceptible to a number of external factors, such as a complete cessation of Russian natural gas exports to Europe, a full re-opening of the Chinese economy and subsequent rise in global natural gas demand, or a breakdown in relations with other providers such as Qatar. The EU may introduce further crisis measures as it seeks to achieve energy independence from Russia while improving the resilience of the European energy system.

Appendix

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Weathering the Storm: EU Responses to the 2022 Energy Crisis | Teneo

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The EU has fundamentally reframed its energy policy in response to the energy crisis, broadening its focus from just climate to now also consider geopolitics, global industrial competitiveness and energy poverty. This paper outlines energy crisis measures taken by the EU so far as well as further planned initiatives.

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18 Jan - Why the response to the energy crisis must embrace an accelerated and balanced transition

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18 Jan - Why the response to the energy crisis must embrace an accelerated and balanced transition

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Lucia Fuselli

Program Analyst, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform, World Economic Forum

Mohammed Algeer

Fellow, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform

World Economic Forum - "an international non-governmental and lobbying organization based in Switzerland" (wikipidia)

Due to globalization this has been the first world-wide energy crisis, and the energy market will change worldwide to more renewable and domestic sources.

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Davos 2023

The energy transition and energy security cannot be considered separately. Image: Rabih Shasha/Unsplash

Program Analyst, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform, World Economic Forum

Fellow, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform

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Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

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Why the response to the energy crisis must embrace an accelerated and balanced transition

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Davos 2023 The energy transition and energy security cannot be considered separately. Image: Rabih Shasha/Unsplash Program Analyst, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform, World Economic Forum Fellow, Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Platform Stay up to date: Davos 2023 Follow Recently announced fiscal measures in response to high energy and food prices Image: IMF Discover What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

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19 Jan - ‘Discriminatory’ measures in U.S. Inflation Reduction Act still need addressing, top EU official says

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19 Jan - ‘Discriminatory’ measures in U.S. Inflation Reduction Act still need addressing, top EU official says

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Jenni Reid
London, England, UK
Financial Markets, aviation, and travel agencies

European politicians will be working with US politicians to amend/edit the IRA to help Europe also decrease reliance on non-renewable resources and move towards green energy.

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19 Jan - The World Economy No Longer Needs Russia

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19 Jan - The World Economy No Longer Needs Russia

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Jeffery Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian

Russia had hoped that their influence in the Energy supply agency would prevent countries from interfering with Ukraine, but instead countries shifted to more domestic energy.

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For much of the past year, and since his invasion of Ukraine last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been riding high on his supposed energy omnipotence, holding the global economy hostage to his whims. Since last summer, Putin has choked off natural gas supplies to Europe, hoping that Europeans, shivering and without heat during the winter, would turn on their leaders and make it politically infeasible to continue support for Ukraine.

The threat was potent: In 2021, a whopping 83 percent of Russian gas was exported to Europe. Russia's total global exports of 7 million barrels of oil a day and 200 billion cubic meters (bcm) of piped gas a year accounted for about half of its federal revenue. Even more importantly, Russia's commodities exports played a crucial role in global supply chains: Europe was reliant on Russia for 46 percent of its total gas supply, with comparable levels of dependence on other Russian products including metals and fertilizer.

Now, as we approach the one-year anniversary of Putin's invasion, it is apparent that Russia has permanently forfeited its erstwhile economic might in the global marketplace.

For much of the past year, and since his invasion of Ukraine last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been riding high on his supposed energy omnipotence, holding the global economy hostage to his whims. Since last summer, Putin has choked off natural gas supplies to Europe, hoping that Europeans, shivering and without heat during the winter, would turn on their leaders and make it politically infeasible to continue support for Ukraine.

The threat was potent: In 2021, a whopping 83 percent of Russian gas was exported to Europe. Russia's total global exports of 7 million barrels of oil a day and 200 billion cubic meters (bcm) of piped gas a year accounted for about half of its federal revenue. Even more importantly, Russia's commodities exports played a crucial role in global supply chains: Europe was reliant on Russia for 46 percent of its total gas supply, with comparable levels of dependence on other Russian products including metals and fertilizer.

Now, as we approach the one-year anniversary of Putin's invasion, it is apparent that Russia has permanently forfeited its erstwhile economic might in the global marketplace.

Thanks to an unseasonably warm winter in Europe, Putin's moment of maximum leverage has passed uneventfully, and, as we correctly forecast last October, the biggest victim of Putin's gas gambit was Russia itself. Putin's natural gas leverage is now nonexistent, as the world-and, most importantly, Europe-no longer needs Russian gas.

Far from freezing to death, Europe quickly secured alternative gas supplies by pivoting to global liquefied natural gas (LNG). This included an estimated 55 bcm from the United States, two-and-a-half times more than prewar U.S. exports of LNG to Europe. Coupled with increases in supply from renewable sources, nuclear, and, in the interim, coal, these alternative supplies have reduced Europe's dependence on Russian gas to 9 percent of its total gas imports. In fact, Europe now purchases more LNG than it ever purchased Russian gas.

Furthermore, Europe's unseasonably warm winter means that not only have the worst-case scenarios been avoided, but Europe's full storage tanks have barely been drawn down and can carry over into next winter. In January, German storage tanks were a record 91 percent full, up from 54 percent last year, meaning that Europe will need to buy significantly less gas in 2023 than in 2022.

The implications are tremendous. Europe is now assured sufficient energy supply well into 2024 at a minimum, providing enough time for cheaper alternative energy supplies-both renewables and bridge fuels-to be fully onboarded and operating within Europe. This includes the completion of an additional 200 bcm/year in LNG export capacity by 2024-enough to fully and permanently replace Russia's 200 bcm/year gas exports once and for all.

Furthermore, the days of globally expensive energy amid "Russia-driven supply squeezes" are over for good. In addition to Europe's lower expected demand for LNG, China is pivoting away from global LNG in favor of domestic sources. Coupled with the rapidly increasing LNG supply, it is little surprise that the gas futures market is now pricing gas to be cheaper than prewar levels for years to come.

Putin, on the other hand, has zero remaining leverage and no way to replace his erstwhile primary customer; he is finding out the hard way that it is much easier for consumers to replace unreliable commodity suppliers than it is for suppliers to find new markets. Already, Putin is drawing practically no profit from gas sales, as his prior 150 bcm sales of piped gas to Europe have been replaced by a measly 16 bcm to China and pocket change in global LNG sales, barely enough to cover expenses. There are no markets for Putin to replace anything close to that 150 bcm shortfall: China lacks the necessary pipeline capacity to take any more for at least a decade and prefers domestic and diversified sources of energy anyhow, while Russia's laggard technology makes it impossible to scale LNG exports beyond a slow trickle.

Putin's oil leverage is likewise diminishing. Gone are the days when fear of Putin taking Russian oil supplies off the market caused oil prices to skyrocket by 40 percent over two weeks. In fact, when-in response to last month's rollout of the G-7 oil price cap, which we helped develop-Putin announced a ban, from Feb. 1, on oil exports to countries that accepted the price cap, oil prices actually went down.

Why? Because it is now apparent that the world no longer depends on Putin's oil. The oil market is turning to favor buyers, not sellers, amid increasing supply-more than enough to compensate for possible drops in Russian crude production. (In December, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian media that the government was prepared to cut crude production by up to 700,000 barrels in 2023.) Oil prices are lower now than before the war, and in the second half of 2022 alone, there was a surge of supply by 4 million barrels a day from producers such as the United States, Venezuela, Canada, and Brazil. With even more new supply expected this year, any lost Russian crude will be seamlessly and easily replaced within weeks. And this time, Putin cannot coerce Saudi Arabia to ride to the rescue by drastically cutting OPEC+ production quotas as it did last October. That's because the United States is now pausing crucial Saudi arms and technology transfers amid heightened international scrutiny of OPEC+'s significant surplus unused capacity.

Putin's leverage has also evaporated because the G-7 price cap gives him a lose-lose choice, which erodes Russia's energy position no matter what he does. China and India, without explicitly participating in the cap, are leveraging it to drive a hard bargain with Russia, with discounts of up to 50 percent, so even though India is buying 33 times more Russian oil than it was a year ago, Russia is not making much profit, given its $44 break-even cost of production on top of costlier transportation. But if Putin cuts production even more, as he has threatened to do, he will be forfeiting all-important oil market share, long a Putin obsession, amid an increasingly oversupplied oil market and further cutting into his own revenue when he is already starved for cash.

Even Putin's other commodities cards are all used up. His gambit to weaponize food abjectly collapsed when even his nominal allies turned on him. And in certain metals markets where Russia historically dominated, such as nickel, palladium, and titanium, blackmail-fearing buyers combined with higher prices have expedited reshoring and reinvigorated dormant public and private investment in critical mineral supply chain and mining projects. These are mostly in North and South America and Africa, home to many undertapped mineral reserves. In fact, in several crucial metals markets, such as cobalt and nickel, the combined output of new mines to be opened in the next two years adds up to more than enough supply to replace Russian metals within global supply chains permanently.

Putin's failed economic gambits are yet another set of miscalculations to add to an increasingly long list, from his underestimation of the people of Ukraine to his underestimation of the collective unity and willpower of the West.

Of course, Putin's failed economic and energy warfare has not been without consequence. The spillovers have impacted many lives, transformed supply chains, changed trade flows, and consumers still feel the pinch of higher prices as the newfound lower prices take some time to work through the economy.

But what matters is that the end is in sight. Never again will Putin be in a position to cause such chaos and disturbance in the global economy, because he has permanently weakened Russia's most powerful hand-its energy and commodities might-beyond repair. The war on the battlefield is still being fought, but on the economic front at least, victory is in sight.

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The World Economy No Longer Needs Russia

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For much of the past year, and since his invasion of Ukraine last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been riding high on his supposed energy omnipotence, holding the global economy hostage to his whims. Since last summer, Putin has choked off natural gas supplies to Europe, hoping that Europeans, shivering and without heat during the winter, would turn on their leaders and make it politically infeasible to continue support for Ukraine.

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20 Jan - LEAK: EU to slap penalties on companies making false green claims

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20 Jan - LEAK: EU to slap penalties on companies making false green claims

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Frederic Simon
News Editor
Used to write for Fracne24
EU affairs
Brussels, Belgium

Cracking down on what can be considered "sustainable," "ecofriendly," or "green" so that consumers can make better energy choices.

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EU member states will be in charge of imposing "dissuasive" penalties on companies making unsubstantiated environmental claims about their products under a draft new EU law, seen by EURACTIV.

The aim of the proposal, due to be tabled by the European Commission in the coming weeks, is to help consumers make better-informed choices about the products they buy.

Whether "green", "eco" or "environmentally friendly" - almost half (40%) of the environmental claims made about products are "unsubstantiated", the Commission says in the draft.

"Consumers lack reliable information about the sustainability of products and face misleading commercial practices like greenwashing or the lack of transparency and credibility of environmental labels," the EU executive writes in a preamble to the draft law.

"Companies making 'green claims' should substantiate these against a standard methodology to assess their impact on the environment," it adds, referring to the EU's flagship Green Deal agenda, adopted in 2019.

To ensure green claims are demonstrated, EU member states will be requested "to set up a system of verification for the substantiation of environmental claims" that will have to be carried out by "independent verifiers".

Most importantly, EU countries will be put in charge of ensuring that "those rules are enforced" and introduce "penalties" on offenders that "should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive," the draft says.

Penalties should be established based on common criteria, it continues, saying those should include "the nature and gravity of the infringement" as well as "the economic benefits derived" from it and the potential environmental damage caused.

Campaigners applauded the move, saying it is "paramount that member states set high enough penalties" in order to discourage companies from breaking the law.

"It is encouraging that the Commission intends to greatly enhance the role of market surveillance authorities in fighting greenwashing," said Dimitri Vergne from BEUC, the EU consumer organisation.

"We strongly hope this proposal remains in the final version," he told EURACTIV, stressing that the draft directive "is a moving target" which is still likely to change before it is published.

Environmental footprint methodology

The Green claims directive was expected to be published last year but was delayed several times because of a lack of consensus on methodologies to verify environmental allegations.

There are more than 200 active ecolabels currently used in the EU - each of them relying on different measurements and methodologies.

Much of the debate centres on the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, which the European Commission wants to extend gradually across a wider range of products.

The PEF methodology aims to calculate the environmental impact of a product over its lifetime. Several of them have been developed for different product groups like textiles, food, or packaging.

But some PEF methodologies have been contested because they do not always reflect all aspects of sustainability.

On packaging for example, glass producers have complained that the envisaged PEF methodology was overly focused on CO2 emissions without taking into account the fact that glass can be recycled over and over again. Meanwhile, other benefits of glass, like the absence of toxic chemicals in its composition, were not duly reflected, according to the European federation of glass packaging makers (FEVE).

Consumer groups agree, saying the PEF method would give consumers an incomplete picture of a product's impact on the environment.

"So we welcome that the Commission acknowledges this method's shortcomings," Vergne said. "For instance it is great news for consumers that the Commission plans to ban green claims for products containing hazardous substances."

Accepted methodologies to be written down in law

The European Commission took account of this feedback, saying it "considers it judicious to leave more flexibility to businesses" when it comes to choosing the right methodology to substantiate environmental claims.

At the same time, the EU executive says it will continue work to develop PEF methodologies for specific product groups, citing "apparel, marine fish, synthetic turf, cut flowers and potted plants," as well as "flexible packaging".

Once developed and approved by EU expert groups, these PEF methodologies and corresponding labelling schemes will be set in stone and made legally binding across the EU via implementing rules known as "delegated acts".

Campaigners support the move but warn against giving businesses too much flexibility on the choice of methodology, saying this decreases legal certainty for companies.

"Claims should only be made based on legally recognised methodologies," said Margaux le Gallou from ECOS, a non-profit group working on environmental standards.

"All other claims should be banned," she added, saying "it is better to have no claims than claims based on poor methodologies" because otherwise it gives an unfair advantage to the company making the allegations.

And to discourage offenders, ECOS supports a combination of fines and naming and shaming. "Penalties work: the Dutch authority sanctioned both Decathlon and H&M for their environmental communication, and both changed their approach at group level, not only in the country where they were sanctioned," le Gallou said.

Pressure is building up on EU governments to regulate advertising based on environmental criteria.

In August last year, France became the first country in Europe to ban adverts for fossil fuels, following the entry into force of a new climate law adopted the year before.

Campaigners have stepped up the pressure too by hacking advertising billboards across Europe to protest against environmental claims made by car manufacturers, which they say are misleading.

> Read the draft Green claims directive below or download here. Annex available here.

Green claims directive_FS

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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LEAK: EU to slap penalties on companies making false green claims

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EU member states will be in charge of imposing "dissuasive" penalties on companies making unsubstantiated environmental claims about their products under a draft new EU law, seen by EURACTIV. The aim of the proposal, due to be tabled by the European Commission in the coming weeks, is to help consumers make better-informed choices about the products they buy.

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23 Jan - EU gas price cap risks curbing market liquidity, regulators warn

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23 Jan - EU gas price cap risks curbing market liquidity, regulators warn

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Kate Abnett
Brussels, Belgium
Reuters - European Energy and Climate Correspondent
Previously Argus Media for 3ish years

Price cap on Gas will be instated Feb 15, which could prevent gas prices from rising from a change in behavior, or it could force gas trade to be "over the counter"

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AMSTERDAM, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The European Union's gas price cap, which launches next month, could trigger abrupt changes in the market and impact financial stability, the bloc's financial market regulator said in a draft report seen by Reuters.

EU countries agreed in December to a gas price cap that, from next month, would kick in if prices spike. The European Securities and Markets Authority said market participants' response to the prospect of the price cap kicking in could ultimately impact financial stability.

"While this behaviour would appear rational on an individual basis, it could trigger significant and abrupt changes of the broader market environment, which could impact the orderly functioning of markets, and ultimately financial stability," ESMA said in a draft report due to be published later on Monday.

Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; writing by Kate Abnett; editing by Huw Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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EU markets watchdog says gas price cap could hit financial stability

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AMSTERDAM, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The European Union's gas price cap, which launches next month, could trigger abrupt changes in the market and impact financial stability, the bloc's financial market regulator said in a draft report seen by Reuters. EU countries agreed in December to a gas price cap that, from next month, would kick in if prices spike.

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23 Jan - EU pledges wind, solar funding to narrow gap with U.S.

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23 Jan - EU pledges wind, solar funding to narrow gap with U.S.

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Neil Ford
Keswick, England, UK
Freelance Journalist
Specializes in African Affairs and the Energy Sector

The US made a huge investment into Green energy with the IRA that Europe will struggle to follow and stay competitive.

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EU pledges wind, solar funding to narrow gap with U.S.

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Volatile regulation, permitting challenges and a lack of federal financing in Europe are making the U.S. more attractive for onshore wind investment, industry experts warn.

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Ariel Cohen
Washington D.C., USA

Depending on Russia for Gas didn't turn out well ("EU-Russia energy divorce), but relying on the US for gas is not a long term solution as it is expensive and still leaves the region dependent on a single superpower. Thoughts are shifting south to African sources for energy: oil, gas, wind, and solar.

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The African Continent boasts both great oil and gas reserves (the latter estimated at around 17 trillion cubic meters) as well as huge capacities for the installation of solar and wind energy systems.

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26 Jan - Italy not starting a new energy policy, says former PM

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26 Jan - Italy not starting a new energy policy, says former PM

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Eleonora Vasques
Brussels, Belgium
European Politics, EU Reforms, Rule of Law

Italy was thought to be following the rest of Europe in making new energy policies following the energy crisis, but it seems to be all talk.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to Algeria brought speculation that the country is looking to forge a new energy policy, but this is just business as usual, former prime minister and current leader of the Five Star Movement Giuseppe Conte told EURACTIV in an exclusive video interview.
Multiple European countries have sought to bolster their energy supplies from African states to tackle the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Meloni visited Algeria on Monday (23 January) to announce her new energy policy and political ties with the country, describing the Rome-Algiers partnership as a new 'Mattei plan' - referring to the founder of the Italian oil and gas giant, Eni, Enrico Mattei.

However, such announcements are little more than words, Conte told EURACTIV.

"Frankly, I do not see any signs of a turnaround in Italian foreign policy. Everything seems to be in line with attention to those countries, especially in the North African belt, with which we have historically consolidated relations," Conte told EURACTIV, dismissing Meloni's 'Mattei plan' as a "slogan without contents".

"With Algeria, we already had contracts in place at a time of great difficulty when we needed diversification and a different energy supply. So, it seems to me that this visit to Algeria by Meloni is a sign of the consolidation of these treaties, these agreements," he added.

As prime minister, Conte visited Algeria in November 2018 and January 2020. His successor Mario Draghi visited the country in April and July 2022.

During her visit, Meloni also announced plans to make Italy an energy hub - a proposal criticised by Conte due to the scale of investment needed.

"The Five Star Movement believes that it is an absolute priority to invest in renewables. Because even though the gas market, which has now become in public opinion the most urgent issue to be kept under control, is a market that, the experts tell us, will settle down after 2030, " he said.

EU policy towards Ukraine

Looking at EU leaders' response to the war in Ukraine, Conte told EURACTIV that the EU is "not doing enough" to steer the conflict towards a solution, condemning the path of "military escalation".

"In Ramstein [last week's international defence meeting for Ukraine], the words 'peace', 'negotiation' did not resonate. It is now discussed and taken for granted that we only meet to feed military strategies," Conte said.

The former prime minister stressed his party's support for Ukraine and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression.

At the beginning of the war, "we supported all aid, including military aid to Ukraine. There was an obvious military asymmetry, and we could not leave Ukraine alone. But a year has passed. Where is this military strategy taking us? There is a deficit of politics," Conte argued.

The Five Star Movement's position on the war has been widely criticised in Italy by both left and right-wing parties, who have taken a militarily stronger stance: Meloni, who took office last autumn, immediately offered her military support to Kyiv, while the Democratic Party underlined the need to help those in the line of fire.

An alliance with the Greens?

On the 2024 EU elections, Conte explained that the Five Star Movement is talking with the European Greens about potentially joining them.

"Programmes have a central role to us in the possibility of strengthening our political action and finding interlocutors in a group that can share this project of ours. It is a project that is absolutely built on an effective ecological transition," Conte said.

"We absolutely want to share a massive investment project for renewable energy. We want to overcome the restrictive austerity policy as an end in itself. These are our ideas, our perspectives. And certainly, that group (the Greens) appears to us to be a privileged interlocutor to pursue these policies," he added.

The co-presidents of the Greens/EFA group, Terry Reintke and Philippe Lamberts, told EURACTIV that the Italian party approached them, but "there is no commitment at this stage".

"The discussion remains open. Any possible decision to join Greens/EFA will be taken by the Group at the appropriate time," they said.

A recovery plan challenged

Conte was leading his second government when Italy's recovery plan was approved at the EU level in May 2020 after a long and tough negotiation with the European Commission.

However, a row over the expert group appointed by Conte to manage and implement the plan led to the collapse of his government in January 2021, when Mario Draghi replaced Conte as prime minister.

Italy is the single biggest beneficiary of the €750 billion EU program of grants and loans.

The "credibility of Italy" depends on the excellent spending of these funds, said Conte.

The increasing prices of raw materials have prompted some countries, Italy included, to ask for their recovery plan to be amended.

According to the Recovery Plan Regulation , the reforms and investments should be implemented within August 2026.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
"2026 is a very close deadline," said Conte, adding that he expects difficulties with implementation due to high energy prices and the US Inflation Reduction Act, which "risks making EU companies less and less competitive in the future".

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Italy not starting a new energy policy, says former PM

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to Algeria brought speculation that the country is looking to forge a new energy policy. However, this is just business as usual, former prime minister and current leader of the Five Star Movement Giuseppe Conte told EURACTIV in an exclusive video interview.

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26 Jan - Extreme weather forces unprepared Europe to focus on climate adaptation

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26 Jan - Extreme weather forces unprepared Europe to focus on climate adaptation

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Philippa Nuttall
Freelance Journalist
climate change, the clean energy transition, sustainable finance and the biodiversity crisis

As Europe shifts politically away from reliance on others for energy, it is also feeling the effects of a warming climate. New energy sources and the region as a whole will need to adapt with the climate. It will take more than Gov't action, they will need to get people on board.

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Extreme weather forces unprepared Europe to focus on climate adaptation

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Deadly summer heatwaves, floods, and snow-free ski slopes in winter are a wake-up call: Europe must urgently adapt to climate change, in addition to reducing emissions. Temperatures in the region have increased at more than twice the global average, making climate adaptation ever more pressing, but also a moving target.

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@Europe_Energy_Policy
on instagram

Focuses on up and coming green energy technologies

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News Wires seem to be very factual and don't typically lean towards one political ideal or another. The stories I found also seem to focus on the interaction between countries (such as US and Europe), not only actions that a single country is taking.

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US Left based sources also seem to focus on fact rather than opinion and on how countries are interacting with each other. Although, they seem to be less likely to be openly critical of US decisions, and focus more on technologies and possible solutions.

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Eutactive TV was my main international source, and they seem to be a slightly sensationalized source. They depend on quotes from politicians and other authorities.

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It was a slight challenge to find social media sources that adequately cover news events. my main social media platform is Instagram, and as such I went searching through Instagram. I definitely don't get my news from there. The source I did find didn't comment on the power struggle currently going on between countries in the Green Technology world, but focused on benefits of new, up-and-coming, technologies themselves.

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This was a cool, more scientific, article that I found. I wouldn't consider it news, but a quick skim of its contents was interesting.

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In Italy last Saturday, people burned their electricity and gas bills; on the same day in the Czech Republic capital of Prague, 70,000 people protested the government's approach to skyrocketing consumer prices; and, on Tuesday in Britain, incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss vowed to immediately tackle the energy crisis and address the soaring cost of living.

For decades, Europe has relied overwhelmingly on Russia for fossil fuels to run its factories, generate its electricity and heat its homes. Now, in countries across the continent, citizens and governments alike are feeling the bitter impact of Moscow's six-month-old war in Ukraine, which has already caused a shortfall in the gas supply, pushing up prices of everyday goods and leaving people struggling to keep their homes warm and families fed.

A combination of Western-imposed sanctions on Russia due to its ongoing aggressions in Ukraine and Russia's angry pushback, combined with two years of pandemic shutdowns, extreme weather conditions and a range of other factors, are now sparking fears of even worse shortages of gas, electricity and basic food staples as Europe heads into the cold winter months.

"There's a very real sense of crisis because the European energy supply, which has largely been provided by Russia, is now being restricted," Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.
UK PRIME MINISTER LIZ TRUSS ENDS NATIONAL BAN ON FRACKING AMID ENERGY CRISIS

"There is a general fear in Europe that we might run dry of gas over the course of the winter that is leading to stockpiling, firstly to make sure that countries have as much gas in their storages as possible, and secondly, many countries are looking at how they can restrict the use of electricity in order to make it last through the winter," he said.

In addition, Europe is also eyeing alternative sources of energy from Norway to North Africa to the Mediterranean basin to ensure it will fill the shortage this year and end its reliance on Russia once and for all.

"What we're seeing now is the result of what happens when you rely on a rogue state for energy," said David Patrikarakos, contributing editor at Unherd and author of "War in 140 Characters."

"Just like COVID taught us that we cannot rely on a rogue state, China, for our supply chains, so this is telling us that we cannot rely on a rogue state like Russia for our energy needs," he said. "This was inevitable because a state like Russia is always going to behave like this in the end and therefore, any vulnerabilities we have any reliance on them will be exploited and used for blackmail purposes, which is what is happening now."

Russia's response to the European withdrawal from its energy sources has been to reduce its gas supplies in the hopes of bringing an end to the sanctions. On Sunday, the state-run energy giant Gazprom halted supplies of natural gas through a key pipeline to Germany citing a gas leak. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, made clear that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which pumps gas from St. Petersburg to Germany via the Baltic Sea, will only begin working again when sanctions against Moscow are removed.
INFLATION IN GERMANY HITS NEAR 50-YEAR HIGH AMID ENERGY CRISIS
However, European governments appear determined not to return to Russian sources despite soaring inflation and rising consumer prices that have sparked protests in France and Germany, as well as in Italy and the Czech Republic.

Seeking to ease the civic unrest, governments have started roll out a series of measures. In Portugal on Tuesday, the government announced a $2.4 billion package for struggling households; in Germany, $64.3 billion was slated this week for the same purpose.

This coming Friday, European Union energy ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss a bloc-wide package of solutions, with European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson telling The Associated Press that a temporary capping of the price of gas used to produce electricity, modification of trading rules on energy exchanges and coordinated demand reduction measures could be among the new measures.

"I think everyone recognizes there's a crisis going on. It's not as if this has come from nowhere, we've seen it building up," said Mendoza. "I think there's going to be a careful balancing act needed now between governments and citizens, with governments showing that they're doing as much as possible, and citizens accepting they can't do everything."

Whether it will be enough depends in large part on the forthcoming winter, he said.

"If it's a cold one, this situation could get much worse," Mendoza said, adding, "I think everyone in Europe knows what we are facing and all will have to look at their energy consumption and work out how they are going to restrict their own energy use to keep their own bills down."

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European governments, citizens gear up for worsening energy crisis

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In Italy last Saturday, people burned their electricity and gas bills; on the same day in the Czech Republic capital of Prague, 70,000 people protested the government's approach to skyrocketing consumer prices; and, on Tuesday in Britain, incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss vowed to immediately tackle the energy crisis and address the soaring cost of living.

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It was interesting to contrast what I could find for the right POV vs the left POV. I tend to lean left myself. I noticed a lot more adds on the page on right sources. And a stock market ticker at the top of the home webpage. I also notices the right tended to focus more on how things effected the individual person, instead of government actions like the left.

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The European Union's head office on Wednesday proposed that member states cut their gas use by 15% over the coming months to ensure that any full Russian cutoff of natural gas supplies to the bloc will not fundamentally disrupt industries next winter.

While the initial cuts would be voluntary cuts, the Commission also asked for the power to impose mandatory reductions across the bloc in the event of an EU-wide alert "when there is a substantial risk of a severe gas shortage or an exceptionally high demand of gas occurs, which results in a significant deterioration of the gas supply situation."

The need is high, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon. And therefore, in any event, whether it's a partial major cutoff of Russian gas or total cutoff of Russian gas, Europe needs to be ready," von der Leyen said.

EU member states will discuss the measures at an emergency meeting of energy ministers next Tuesday. For them to be approved, national capitals would have to consider yielding their powers over energy policy to Brussels.

Wednesday's proposal comes at a time when a blog post from the International Monetary Fund has warned about the power Russian President Vladimir Putin could wield by weaponizing energy exports and choking off the 27-nation bloc.

"The partial shutoff of gas deliveries is already affecting European growth, and a full shutdown could be substantially more severe," the IMFBlog warned. It added that gross domestic product in member nations like Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic could shrink by up to 6%.

Italy, a country already facing serious economic problems, "would also face significant impacts."

EU economic forecasts last week showed that Russia's war in Ukraine is expected to wreak havoc with economic recovery for the foreseeable future, with lower annual growth and record-high inflation. The disruptions in Russian energy trade threaten to trigger a recession in the bloc just as it is recovering from a pandemic-induced slump

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU has approved bans on Russian coal and most oil to take effect later this year, but it did not include natural gas because the 27-nation bloc depends on gas to power factories, generate electricity and heat homes. Now, it fears that Putin will cut off gas anyway to try to wreak economic and political havoc in Europe this winter.

Such threats have forced the bloc's head office to make a plan centered on energy cuts and savings that might make for a much colder winter, but one without massive disruptions.

"We have to be proactive. We have to prepare for a potential full disruption of Russian gas. And this is a likely scenario. That's what we've seen in the past," von der Leyen said.

The aim is to ensure essential industries and services like hospitals functioning, while others would have to cut back. That could include lowering heat in public buildings and enticing families to use less energy at home.

"Assuming there is a full disruption of Russian gas, we need to save gas, to fill our gas storage faster, and to do so we have to reduce our gas consumption. I know this is a big ask," von der Leyen said.

EU nations and the Commission have gone on a buying spree to diversify its natural gas sources away from Russia, but they are still expected to fall far short of providing businesses and homes with enough energy in the cold months.

Even if the EU has enough gas to keep the lights on and factories running right now, it does so at painfully high prices that have fueled runaway inflation and caused public uproar.

Russia has cut off or reduced gas to some EU countries, and there are fears that the energy crisis will get worse if Moscow does not restart a key pipeline to Germany after scheduled maintenance ends Thursday.

Already a dozen nations from one day to the next have experienced supply disruptions from Gazprom.

The energy squeeze is also reviving decades-old political challenges for Europe. While the EU has gained centralized authority over monetary, trade, antitrust and farm policies, national capitals have jealously guarded their powers over energy matters.

The European Commission has spent decades chipping away at this bastion of national sovereignty, using previous supply disruptions to secure gradual gains in EU clout. The five-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine is now the starkest test of whether member countries are willing to cede more of their energy powers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, member states did join in common action to help develop and buy vaccines in massive quantities in an unprecedented show of common resolve in the health sector.

"This is a moment for Europe to build upon the decisive action and solidarity displayed during the pandemic to address the challenging moment it faces today," the IMFBlog said.

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EU Draws up Energy Plan in Case of Russian Gas Cutoff - Chapelboro.com

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Written by RAF CASERT The European Union's head office on Wednesday proposed that member states cut their gas use by 15% over the coming months to ensure that any full Russian cutoff of natural gas supplies to the bloc will not fundamentally disrupt industries next winter.

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I couldn't actually open the article, because you need to subscribe for that, but this is the local source my Mother uses, and it was interesting that they had articles from as recent as 08 Jan

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Raleigh NC News, Sports & Politics | Raleigh News & Observer

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Read today's latest news headlines from Raleigh, Durham and surrounding areas in North Carolina. Follow crime, weather, state politics, sports and community.

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I was a little surprised to see the local NC news covered this mostly European problem. Granted, their articles were not updated frequently; with one article being written every few months. Chapel Hill and Raleigh, the location of these sources, are in left leaning cities. I was not surprised to see the writing style reflect the left leaning US sources.