Europe facing 'tangible reality' of Russian gas supply shutdown, says Taoiseach
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that although he did not anticipate fuel rationing in Ireland this winter, 'nothing could be ruled out'.
The Taoiseach has warned Ireland and the rest of the EU to prepare for the shutdown of Russian gas to Europe this winter.
Speaking at the end of a two-day summit in Brussels, Micheál Martin says the "risk of Russia cutting off gas supplies to Europe" has to be factored into plans to mitigate against high energy costs this winter.
"In reality, it’s already started, and so it would be naive in the extreme to suggest it couldn’t happen," he said.
Emergency planning across Europe in relation to such a scenario is now unfolding, he said.
Russia has already cut gas — either partially or totally — to 12 EU member states including Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, due to their refusal to change payments to ruble accounts.
Moscow is also delivering less than half of the supply demanded from Europe compared to this time last year.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Europe took around 40% of its gas supply, but this has fallen to around 20% now. Several EU member states have told the International Energy Agency (IEA) that they have received significantly less gas than anticipated.
The Taoiseach also accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of ‘weaponising’ energy and food as part of his war in Ukraine.
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EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said preparations to deal with “potential further disruptions in deliveries of Russian gas to Europe — and we are working hard on this”.
“We have reviewed all the national emergency plans to help make sure everyone is ready for further disruptions,” she told reporters in a press conference.
One prospect is a common EU procurement platform similar to the vaccine plan where the Commission purchases energy on behalf of participating member states.
Mr Martin said it "could help bring prices down", although the concept is in early stages of preparation.
The European Commission is due to publish proposals on the issue around September. Also under discussion is the possibility of a global price cap on oil, although the issue is complex and requires international take-up.
The Taoiseach also said he did not anticipate fuel rationing this winter, but "nothing could be ruled out", given the war. He said the Government believes the biggest challenge is spiralling prices, as opposed to energy supply.
"The challenge will be if Russia decides to ramp up its cutting off of gas supply, it’ll have an obvious knock-on effect on the market from a pricing point of view," he said.
Meanwhile, he reiterated his position that a budget in autumn is the "optimal way to deal with this crisis", and ruled out immediate action.
He said advice from the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde — who addressed the summit — was that measures should be "targeted and temporary".
"One could spend a billion a month and they will not be as targeted," said Mr Martin.
"And we’ve already committed over 1% of GDP specifically to alleviate pressure.
"We can’t chase inflation. Around 40% of this is attributable to energy, and a significant percentage towards food.
"We understand fully the pressures people are under, but we need to do a comprehensive package that not only deals with the difficulties people are facing this year, but also right through 2023."
He hailed the granting of candidate status to Ukraine as "historic" and compared the moment to the fall of the Soviet Union and German reunification which led to a number of former Soviet countries joining the bloc.
"I think it makes absolute sense," he said.
"We learned ourselves 50 years ago — and as we joined there was scepticism and opposition at the time — a lot of people thought we were too poor.
"Nonetheless, we succeeded beyond our dreams."
