Gas savings plan with leaks + China's loans in Africa + Nina Scheer • Europe.Table

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Dear reader,

“Europe will not be divided,” said German Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens) in response to yesterday’s agreement on a gas plan for the winter: Member states want to save at least 15 percent gas from August until March next year – voluntarily at first, and also mandatory if an EU-wide emergency is declared. But there is a whole range of potential exceptions, as Manuel Berkel analyzes. The savings target of 15 percent is not sufficient anyway, said Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) – it should be 20 percent.

The narrative that China is driving Africa into a debt trap with its loans is a fairly common one. A few weeks ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also spoke along these lines and warned of a debt crisis in the Global South triggered by Chinese loans. Katja Scherer has taken a closer look at this thesis and comes to the conclusion: African countries’ debt problems are more likely to be caused by other lenders. Western creditors played a central role.

“We don’t have to be greener than the Greens?” is a phrase Nina Scheer has often heard in the SPD and one that has always annoyed her. She joined the party as a teenager out of ecological interest, and is now the climate protection and energy policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group. Read more about Scheer today’s Profile by Janna Degener-Storr.

Your
Sarah Schaefer

Feature

The EU’s leaky gas-saving plan

In a feat of strength, the 27 EU member states have agreed on a joint gas plan for the winter – as a signal to the Kremlin. But a large majority of the members have managed to implement exceptions for their own countries.

By
Manuel Berkel

In the end, the Czech Council Presidency actually succeeded. The EU member states want to cut gas consumption by at least 15 percent between August and March of next year – initially voluntarily, and later mandatory in the event of a Union-wide alert. “At the end, everybody understands that this sacrifice is necessary,” said Jozef Síkela, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, after the energy ministers’ meeting. “We have to and we will share the pain.”

German Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck was pleased with the unity of the EU states. “We will not be divided,” said the Green politician. He called the result a “strong signal against all mockers and despisers of the EU”.

Before the Council meeting, Poland still rejected commitments to save energy. In the end, however, only Budapest opposed the winter plan, said State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs Sven Giegold (Greens). According to a government spokesman, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó even stated that implementation was out of the question for Hungary.

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