EU can't cut reliance on Russian gas

The European Union, containing 28 countries, is required to have a single market for power and gas. However in practice the member states are not proving to be consistent. Not all Governments follow the single policy line.

If Europe is to improve its supply and reduce its reliance on Russia, then it needs to enforce its energy strategy and will need to pay more for gas. This was the warning given by the West’s energy watchdog recently.

Maria van der Hoeven went further to explain Europe would need to maximize its use of existing infrastructure. She said:

“It is important that Europe enforces its internal energy strategy. Countries in Europe are not independent when it comes to energy because there's huge interdependence and decisions made in one country have an influence on other countries."

At present Russia supplies approximately 30% of Europe’s gas. Some European countries rely completed on imports which does leave them vulnerable to changes for example when Ukraine and Russia encountered difficulties in 2009.

Maria van der Hoeven went onto say:

"The dependency on Russian gas cannot be changed overnight. You have to invest in infrastructure as well as your relationship with other suppliers. You need to use your LNG capacity which is now used at only a 25% rate. This of course all has a price."