Europe | Cutting calories

The EU agrees on an energy diet to fight Russian gas cuts

Vladimir Putin wants to blackmail Europe into dropping sanctions

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JULY 20: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (L), the EU Commissioner for European Green Deal - First Vice President and Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans (C) and the EU Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson are talking to media about: 'Commission proposes gas demand reduction plan to prepare EU for supply cuts' in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on July 20, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium. The European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts from Russia, due to the Kremlins weaponisation of gas exports, with almost half of our Member States already affected by reduced deliveries. Taking action now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Europe in case of further or full disruption, strengthening European energy resilience. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Jul 28th 2022|BERLIN

The news from the Bundesnetzagentur was grim. “The situation is tense and a further worsening...cannot be ruled out,” Germany’s energy regulator announced on July 26th. Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas provider, had just said it would further cut deliveries of natural gas through Nord Stream 1 (ns1), a pipeline from Russia to Germany. ns1 was already at 40% of capacity, and has now dropped to 20%. Gazprom blamed turbine trouble: the first of the cuts was attributed to a part sent to Canada for maintenance. That was a pretext. Canada has returned the turbine to Germany, and it could be shipped to Russia any day.

Rather, the cuts are blackmail, aimed at forcing Europe to drop sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Pundits had expected the Kremlin to tighten the screws, but not so quickly. If ns1 remains at 20% of capacity Germany will not be able to reach the government’s goal of filling 95% of its gas-storage tanks by November. They are now two-thirds full.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Cutting calories"