On the agreement of the EU Heads of State and Government on a partial oil embargo and the ongoing European Council meeting Philippe Lamberts MEP, President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, comments: “The agreement to ban 90 percent of Russian oil from entering the European Union and to finally put the sixth sanctions package…
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has thrown its support behind the Commission’s “REPowerEU” initiative, stressing that energy security must be accompanied by urgent measures to protect vulnerable users, accelerate decarbonisation and diversify energy sources. Steps should also be taken to reduce demand for Russian gas which has brought about a significant increase in energy…
The EPP Group says that Europe urgently needs a plan to develop long-term partnerships with non-EU countries to ensure “sustainable, secure and affordable energy.” “This is needed not just for the EU but also for world stability”, said Christian Ehler MEP, the EPP Group Spokesman on Energy, Industry and Research. The European Commission has published…
The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament have welcomed REPowerEU – the European Commission’s plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward towards the green transition. S&Ds call for a new recovery plan to finance the energy transition, similar to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), created for the purpose of…
Lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) says it has obtained recent meeting documents from the European Commission (EC) that reveal that major fossil fuel companies are influencing the EU’s response to the energy crisis. Minutes allegedly reveal that CEOs of six big energy companies – Shell, BP, Total, ENI, E.ON and Vattenfall – met President…
While the Russian army is bombing Ukraine and massacring civilians, the EU keeps transferring half a billion to a billion euros to Russia on a daily basis, paying for oil and gas supplies. But the US Congress has voted to embargo imports of Russian oil gas and coal. The European Parliament has similarly voted in…
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has issued a robust statement in response to latest developments in the Ukraine crisis. She said, “EU Member States have given their political agreement for a new package of sanctions against Russia. I welcome this. Russia’s decision to recognise the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk is illegal and…
The current energy crisis is impacting on the competitiveness of the European textile and clothing industry. Because there are limited alternatives to the use of gas in different parts of the production process, production costs increase sharply. EURATEX asks the European Commission and Member States to urgently support the industry to avoid company closures. At…
Energy taxation can support efforts to combat climate change, but current tax levels do not reflect the extent to which different energy sources pollute. A review published today by the European Court of Auditors outlines how energy taxes, carbon pricing and energy subsidies contribute to achieving the EU’s climate objectives. Even though renewable-energy subsidies almost…
In the letter, S&D vice-president and shadow rapporteur in the environment committee, Simona Bonafè, and S&D shadow rapporteur in the economic affairs committee, Paul Tang, expressed their opposition to the labelling of gas and nuclear-based energy production as taxonomy compliant. While recognising the role played by gas and nuclear to meet the energy needs nowadays towards the transition to a…
