Versailles Convention: Europe divided over energy independence from Russia

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Crewe may declare that the Russian invasion of Ukraine «is Europe's 9/11» and the Versailles summit may tell Zelensky that his country «belongs to the European family», but European unity and solidarity probably stops there.

Because, according to the latest information from Paris, the Versailles summit again finds the European Union divided and unable to agree on a further common position on both the energy and the geopolitical crisis.

The disagreements are mainly on three major issues: The speed and intensity with which Europe's decoupling from Russian gas will proceed; whether, and what, further sanctions will be imposed on Moscow (mainly in the energy field); and Ukraine's accession to the EU. In addition, as Reuters reports, the proposal to impose a cap on wholesale gas prices - a proposal that was tabled at the summit by the Belgian prime minister and supported by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his famous letter - also seems to run into a hard Dutch wall.

The first and major area of division is how quickly, and on what terms, Europe can proceed with the reduction, and ultimately the complete decoupling of Europe from Russian gas.

The plan presented this week by the Commission foresees a one-third reduction of Russian gas purchases by the end of 2022 and full decoupling in the following years. But the draft communiqué, cited by Reuters, does not include a closed timetable and is limited to a reference to a gradual elimination of Russian supplies as many European countries - notably Germany, which meets 50% of its needs with Russian gas - fear that hasty moves will exacerbate the energy deficit and rising prices. And based on officials cited by Reuters, some countries want an immediate cut-off of Russian supplies, others want the timetable extended to 2027 and others to 2030.

There is also a division on the immediate measures to deal with the wave of price hikes affecting consumers. Alexander de Crewe proposed a Europe-wide cap on gas prices, saying that «the markets have gone mad», but Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said «no», stating outright that such a move would undermine the profit margins of US LNG exporters and the project to decouple from Russia.

He said that the path to this decoupling is Europe's shift to LNG from the US and other countries. «But if a price cap is imposed,» he added, «Europe will not be an attractive market for LNG exporters.» Faced with the looming impasse, the Spanish government warned that if there is no decision on a unified, European intervention, it will move unilaterally towards imposing a cap.

There is still disagreement about the possibility of imposing energy sanctions against Russia, with Poland and the Baltic countries calling for aggressive moves along the lines of the US, but with Germany and Hungary categorically opposed.

However, there is no common ground on the prospect of Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU either.The draft communiqué reported by Bloomberg only proclaims that «Ukraine belongs to our European family» and is limited to the commitment to «further strengthening cooperation between the two sides», without any reference to the accession perspective.

Again, the Baltic countries and Poland are reportedly calling for an acceleration of the accession process, but are facing strong opposition from France, the Netherlands and others.