According to Brussels, around 300 billion euros are needed to free Europe from Russian energy by 2027. But the EU Commission’s plans are vague and largely non-binding.
The European Commission presented its proposals on Wednesday, under which the EU should be free of gas, oil, coal and uranium from Russia within the next five years. However, these plans for saving energy consumption, the rapid promotion of renewable energy sources – especially solar energy – and the reorganization of the electricity market in the Union suffer from two main problems: they are largely non-binding and the majority of the money required for their implementation is to be provided by the rebooking of EU funds that have already been planned. 210 billion euros by the target year 2027 and a further 90 billion euros by the year 2030 are required firstly to break free from Moscow and secondly to achieve the milestone of a 55 percent reduction in emissions on the way to completely stopping the contribution to climate change in 2050. Whether that will work out is just one of several key questions.
1 What will these billions be used for and where will they come from?
86 billion euros for the expansion of renewable energy sources, 56 billion euros for measures to increase energy efficiency and the increased installation of heat pumps, 41 billion euros for helping Europe’s industrial companies to get by with less fossil fuels, 37 billion euros for biomethane production, 29 billion euros EUR to modernize the electricity networks, EUR 27 billion to build the infrastructure for the use of hydrogen, EUR 10 billion to enable the import of LPG and pipeline gas from alternative suppliers, and EUR 1.5 to 2 billion to rebuild existing oil infrastructure. These expenses are to be financed firstly by 225 billion euros in loans that are available in the Corona development fund but have not yet been called up by the states. Secondly, emission allowances that are currently held in an EU reserve are to be auctioned off for 20 billion euros. This money would be in the form of grants. Third, the Commission allows the member states to reallocate 12.5 percent each of the subsidies to which they are entitled from the rural development fund of agricultural policy and from the cohesion fund. That should bring 26.9 and 7.5 billion euros – provided that the EU states do so, because it is voluntary. But these sources do not add up to the required 300 billion euros – and probably not even the 210 billion euros by 2027.