The European Union’s top official on Wednesday called on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country’s biggest bank and major broadcasters in the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, proposed to EU’s member nations to phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year. [bold, links added]
“We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets,” von der Leyen said.
The proposals need to be unanimously approved to take effect and are likely to be the subject of fierce debate.
Von der Leyen conceded that getting all 27 member countries — some of them landlocked and highly dependent on Russia for energy supplies — to agree on oil sanctions “will not be easy.”
The EU gets about 25% of its oil from Russia, most of which goes toward gasoline and diesel for vehicles.
Russia supplies about 14% of diesel, S&P Global analysts said, and a cutoff could send already high prices for truck and tractor fuel towering.
If approved, the ban on oil imports will be the second package of EU sanctions targeting Russia’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin started on Feb. 24.
In addition to sanctions on various entities and individuals — including Putin himself and members of his family — the bloc previously approved an embargo on coal imports.
The EU has started discussions on a possible natural gas embargo, but the consensus among member countries on targeting the fuel used to generate electricity and heat homes is more difficult to secure. The region gets about 40% of its natural gas from Russia.
In a sign of the political pressure that von der Leyen has been under to widen EU sanctions on Russian energy, some European Parliament members on Wednesday stepped up calls for the bloc to target imports of natural gas from Russia as well.
“That’s great news that we are moving on the oil embargo,” Luis Garicano, a Spanish member of the EU assembly, said after von der Leyen’s announcement. “But as you know this is far short of what this parliament wants. We actually asked a month ago for a full embargo on gas and oil.”
Hungary and Slovakia have already said they wouldn’t take part in any oil sanctions, but von der Leyen didn’t elaborate on whether they would receive an exemption from the sanctions, although this appears likely.
Read rest at AP
Somehow, “decoupling” from Russian oil & gas probably won’t be as simple & fast as EU political leaders envision. If Russia decides to close a couple master valves, it is debatable that Germany can even keep their lights on or chemical industries viable for even a few days. Unfortunately, the EU may get a taste of how good modern life is BECAUSE of fossil fuels and how critical reliable resource supplies are to national security. We aren’t addicted to oil…we are addicted to PROSPERITY. Hopefully, this does not turn out to be a hard & bitter lesson. One thing is for sure. The “cavalry” isn’t coming in the form of Green Energy…