EU gas supply still not secure against potential future crises – report

The EU isn’t prepared to properly deal with a future gas crisis like the one resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Although the EU has successfully dealt with the crisis, the report says that the bloc has switched its dependence from Russian gas onto imports of liquified natural gas (LNG). In 2021, Russia provided 45 percent of all gas imports to the EU, with Germany being the biggest buyer within the EU. The newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that LNG imports made up 34 percent of demand in 2023, with such dependencies bringing the risk of structurally higher prices. “Given the EU’s dependence on foreign gas, it can never be complacent about its security of supply. And consumers do not have any affordability guarantees in the event of a major future shortage,” said João Leão, the ECA member responsible for the audit. The ECA is the EU's external auditor, in charge of assessing the economy, effectiveness, efficiency, legality and regularity of EU action.

During the recent gas crisis, the EU did meet its goal to reduce demand by 15 percent and fill gas storage facilities up to 90 percent. The report suggests, however, that the benefits of measures taken to counteract the crisis are still unclear. After introducing a gas price cap, for example, gas prices remained lower than the limit provided. Many countries in the bloc are also unwilling to sign solidarity agreements, the report found, with some envisioning cutting off gas supplies to a neighbour in response to an emergency.

Germany's emergency gas plan currently remains on the second-highest threat level, with the supply situation still considered “tense”. The government’s LNG plans have been criticised as “strongly oversized” due to the long-term perspective of needing to phase out natural gas to meet climate goals. By 2045, Germany aims to become greenhouse gas neutral.