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Europe yesterday stepped up attempts to reduce its exposure to potential Russian blackmail over energy supplies.
Today it unveiled an ambitious strategy aimed at weakening Russian giant Gazprom's domination of Europe's gas imports, The Guardian reads. On the eve of the Russia-EU summit today in France, the energy package released by the European commission highlighted Europe's dependence on Russian exports and sought to devise strategies to wean Europe off the addiction.
Of six energy projects pinpointed for development, commission officials said the two "absolute" priorities were to connect the three post-Soviet Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to European power grids and to forge ahead with the so-called "southern gas corridor", which is supposed to transport gas from the Caspian basin to Europe while, for political reasons, bypassing the world's two biggest gas producers, Russia and Iran. Both projects are aimed at loosening Russia's grip.
By next year Brussels also aims to have set up a consortium of European companies to buy gas from the Caspian basin, to be shipped to Europe in a new pipeline from Azerbaijan, via Turkey and the Balkans, to Austria from 2013. Gazprom currently controls all the pipelines sending gas to Europe from the east.
Europe currently gets 42% of its gas, a third of its oil and a quarter of its hard coal from Russia. The commission estimates that by 2030 Europe will be importing 84% of its gas needs, up from 61% at present.
Today it unveiled an ambitious strategy aimed at weakening Russian giant Gazprom's domination of Europe's gas imports, The Guardian reads. On the eve of the Russia-EU summit today in France, the energy package released by the European commission highlighted Europe's dependence on Russian exports and sought to devise strategies to wean Europe off the addiction.
Of six energy projects pinpointed for development, commission officials said the two "absolute" priorities were to connect the three post-Soviet Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to European power grids and to forge ahead with the so-called "southern gas corridor", which is supposed to transport gas from the Caspian basin to Europe while, for political reasons, bypassing the world's two biggest gas producers, Russia and Iran. Both projects are aimed at loosening Russia's grip.
By next year Brussels also aims to have set up a consortium of European companies to buy gas from the Caspian basin, to be shipped to Europe in a new pipeline from Azerbaijan, via Turkey and the Balkans, to Austria from 2013. Gazprom currently controls all the pipelines sending gas to Europe from the east.
Europe currently gets 42% of its gas, a third of its oil and a quarter of its hard coal from Russia. The commission estimates that by 2030 Europe will be importing 84% of its gas needs, up from 61% at present.
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