Baptiste Morin 07:28, September 14, 2022

Ursula von der Leyen delivers her State of the European Union (EU) address on Wednesday morning.

The energy issue will necessarily hold an important place since the EU is trying to organize itself to spend the winter without a gas or electricity cut.

To do this, it relies on solidarity between the Member States, but so far this solidarity has been regularly undermined.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech on Wednesday on the state of the European Union (EU).

Faced with the war in Ukraine, the EU is trying to organize itself to get through the winter without power cuts.

For several weeks, the Ministry of Ecological Transition has regularly communicated on the level of gas stocks.

These should enable the Member States of the European Union (EU) to help each other get through the winter.

But the ministry highlights the level of French stocks.

However, the European strategy is based on solidarity at Union level.

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It is therefore the level of European stocks that matters.

If French stocks are 94% full, European stocks are 84%.

“If we have our stocks well filled but the others have filled them less well, it is we who will have to compensate”, underlines Thierry Bros, professor at Sciences Po and energy specialist.

Solidarity limited to two countries?

In fact, European solidarity is no longer a reality.

So far, it is mostly Franco-German.

Indeed, Paris has undertaken to deliver gas to Germany if needed this winter.

France reactivates a gas pipeline in Moselle for the occasion.

This one was used only in the east-west direction, it will have to work from west to east.

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In exchange, Berlin has agreed to supply electricity to France in the event of a peak in consumption.

"What about Italy? We have also seen that Spain is completely in favor of solidarity, as long as it does not have to participate", comments Thierry Bros.

Spain initially opposed the European energy sobriety plan before validating it once it obtained the right of exemption.

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 Electricity: the EU wants to cap the income of energy producers and the price of Russian gas

The 27 are also working on a cap on gas prices.

The Union wants to target Russian gas, but this measure could also affect more widely all gas suppliers in Europe and in particular Norway.

However, Oslo has become since the beginning of the war the main gas supplier of the Old Continent.

"We approach the discussions with an open mind, but we are skeptical of a maximum price for gas," reacted Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Brussels will have to take into account the opinion of this ally, which has become more essential than ever.