Main results of the EU Energy Council on 15 October 2024

Dear journalists, good evening.

As Attila explained, we have discussed a wide range of topics today.

As it is traditional for our October Energy Councils, we have dedicated particular attention to energy preparedness and security of supply and this time we also discussed the energy situation in Ukraine, ahead of the third winter since Russia launched its unjustified war against Ukraine.

The Ministers today shared the view that we have entered the heating season on a relatively solid footing, thanks to the measures we have taken and the REPowerEU Plan.

Our gas storages are at 95% of capacity, and injections into storage are continuing.

This is our insurance against supply disruptions and helps to keep prices stable.

Renewables are constantly on the rise and gas supplies have been diversified.

As you know, at the end of the year we will see the end of the gas transit agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz.

Today, I reaffirmed to the Ministers that we are ready for it. We knew that this contract would expire by the end of the year.

The Commission has been working closely with the most impacted Member States to prepare for a zero-transit scenario as of 1 January 2025.

Central and Southeastern Europe has diversified supply options to fully replace the 14 bcm of Russian gas that is still transiting via Ukraine.

New and existing LNG terminals have sufficient capacity, the transport infrastructure is there, and various alternative supply routes exist for both LNG and pipeline imports.

I have said this before and will say it again: there are no excuses, the EU can live without this Russian gas.

If Member States prefer to continue importing Russian gas, and they do it even beyond contracted capacity, or if they wish to sign new agreements for new capacities, I want to be clear: this is not a necessity. It is a political choice, and a dangerous one.

We must remember that the costs of dealing with Russia are not just measured in the price of gas, but also in the lives lost in Ukraine.

This topic is closely linked to another point on the agenda, the progress in the delivery of the REPowerEU plan.

The REPowerEU plan is a major achievement of this mandate.

When we took office back in 2019, no-one would have thought that we would end these five years with a completely different energy landscape.

The acceleration of renewables has been unprecedented. Between 2021 and 2023, the combined wind and solar capacity increased by 36%.

Gas supplies were diversified.

And between August 2022 and July 2024 gas demand declined by 18%, and that helped us to save 146 bcm of gas.

However, I warned against the risk of backtracking on the REPowerEU agenda.

I have expressed to Ministers my deep concern about the increased Russian gas volumes to the EU over the past few months. Since 2022 we have, every year, reduced these imports. We should not let 2024 be the year that breaks this trend.

The increases are partly due to temporary circumstances. But we must remain vigilant that this does not become a structural trend.

In the past two years, the Commission has done everything in its power to enable the Member States to improve the security of supply outlook.

Even in the absence of a full sanctions regime on Russian gas and LNG, we now have the tools for a gradual, full phase out of Russian imports, including the provisions of the Gas Package and the sanctions on transshipments, which take effect next year.

Ministers today were very supportive of the need to complete REPowerEU and asked for more coordination and technical assistance from the Commission to ensure uniform implementation of existing measures.

I have agreed to hold a new round of technical talks with the Member States.

This work will also feed into the work of the next Commission, which will prepare a REPowerEU Action Plan, as expressed by the President in her guidelines.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We had another very topical discussion about the challenges for the upcoming winter in Ukraine with Minister German Galushchenko, and heard his assessment of the situation.

As we all know, more than half of the country’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian attacks. 9 GW of power generation capacity has been lost since March this year.

I witnessed myself the situation a couple of weeks ago during my recent visit to Kyiv with President von der Leyen.

To address Ukraine’s needs for the winter, the Commission has proposed a three-pillared approach: repair, connect, and stabilise.

To repair, we aim to restore 2.5 GW of capacity. We will continue coordinating support and its delivery through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, and I today once again encouraged Ministers to step up efforts to provide spare parts and equipment.

I very much welcome the recent significant donations from Estonia and Lithuania totalling 560 MW of power generation capacity.

I also welcome the generosity shown by Member States and other donors following my appeal over the Summer. The resources available to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund have increased from €500 million to €750 million.

The second pillar: to connect. We work closely with ENTSO-E to explore possibilities for increasing electricity export capacities. I urged Ministers to give their support to this, too.

Finally, to stabilise, we are boosting decentralised energy production to increase the resilience of the system.

We also discussed Ukraine´s concerns about Russia’s potential attacks on substations linked to nuclear power plants. I have informed Ministers today that the Commission is ready to mobilise additional €3 million to support the missions by the International Atomic Energy Agency to the substations.

Ukraine needs urgent help. I reiterated my plea to the Ministers to continue donations to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, as well as contribute to the protection of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.

As this is possibly my last Energy Council as Commissioner, I would like to thank all the colleagues, the Hungarian Presidency and all the other Presidencies during my mandate, as well as the Council Secretariat for the excellent cooperation.

The Energy Council has been at the very core of the response to the energy crisis. We have delivered the needed legislation, and importantly, have always been able to build political consensus.

We can look back to the past five years with a sense of pride to have truly shaped the European energy landscape – even though the road ahead will not be without challenges.

Thank you.

Source – EU Commission