EU ministers have dismissed the idea of building a robust shield to protect the union's energy market from foreign buyers such as Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. According to an agreement reached on Friday (10 October), each EU member state will remain free to decide whether to allow foreign bidders entering their market. However, in doing so, they should take into account the union's energy security, while also consulting the European Commission. The result is a victory for Germany, which imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia The result is a victory for Germany, which imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia. Berlin secured enough support among ministers to alter a European Commission-sponsored safeguard, known as the "Gazprom clause." The EU's executive body suggested last year that foreign bidders would be prevented from expanding in the 27-nation energy market without limit.
EU ministers have dismissed the idea of building a robust shield to protect the union's energy market from foreign buyers such as Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
According to an agreement reached on Friday (10 October), each EU member state will remain free to decide whether to allow foreign bidders entering their market. However, in doing so, they should take into account the union's energy security, while also consulting the European Commission.
The result is a victory for Germany, which imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia
The result is a victory for Germany, which imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia. Berlin secured enough support among ministers to alter a European Commission-sponsored safeguard, known as the "Gazprom clause."
The EU's executive body suggested last year that foreign bidders would be prevented from expanding in the 27-nation energy market without limit.
Saying that Gazprom needs special treatment is effectively saying that they don't want to regulate it using normal rules - because that would also imply applying the same rules to the other companies... and THAT is not tolerable! In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
