Germany has ‘huge responsibility’ in energy crisis, says French company union chief

A conference organised by the French gas association levelled serious criticism at Germany for the energy policy Berlin has championed in the past decade, which was largely instrumental in Europe’s current energy crisis.

Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, president of France’s largest employer federation MEDEF, did not mince his words when discussing Germany during the conference, which gathered experts, policymakers and industry players on all things gas.

Germany, highly dependent on Russian gas before Moscow turned off the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, is now struggling to find new energy resources to ensure the industry wheel keeps turning and there is enough heat for half of the country’s homes that rely on gas.

To find solutions quickly, the German government decided on Wednesday (28 September) to extend the lifespan of coal-fired plants, some of which were reactivated to deal with the crisis – contradicting the target Germany has set for itself of going carbon neutral by 2045, Reuters reported.

Worried about the supply situation this winter, Chancellor Olaf Scholz went so far as to visit Gulf state leaders over the weekend (24-25 September), but only closed a deal with the United Arab Emirates, while coming away empty-handed from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Germany also decided at the start of September to keep the country’s last three nuclear reactors closed until the end of 2022 – a move likely intended to please one of Scholz’s two coalition partners, the Greens.

However, on 27 September, Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said his government would likely extend the operation of two of the three nuclear reactors destined to be phased out by the end of the year.

Habeck blamed the French nuclear network, where half of the reactors are currently on hold for maintenance, calling the situation “much worse than expected”.

Habeck confirms 2022 nuclear exit, two plants to form temporary reserve

The German government will uphold the country’s planned 2022 nuclear exit, shutting down its last three nuclear reactors amid the ongoing European energy crisis.

U-turn on nuclear

In other words, Germany is upholding its policy of reducing its energy capacity all the while increasing its share of carbon-heavy fuels and calling for “solidarity” from other EU countries.

Scholz even suggested that the Franco-Spanish MidCat pipeline project, dormant since 2019, be resumed, despite being a third party to the project.

Seeing the pipeline as beneficial to Germany, Scholz held talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez before French President Emmanuel Macron recently caved in, saying he would reconsider the project if he were convinced of its usefulness.

The European Commission also commented on Germany‘s recent actions. “It is up to all countries to do everything possible with regard to the availability of energy production,” said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on 8 September after meeting with the German government in Berlin.

French project to export gas to Germany from October in final stages

France is on its way to approving a project to export 100 Gigawatt hours per day of gas to Germany from 10 October as the Energy Regulatory Commission launched the project’s public consultation phase on Thursday (15 September) – the last but one step before the launch.

Germany’s ‘huge responsability’

But according to MEDEF’s Roux de Bézieux, the energy issue can be traced back even further.

Germany’s “enormous responsibility to history” stems from former chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision in 2011 to withdraw from nuclear for civilian use by the end of 2022, following the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, said MEDEF’s president.

The planned nuclear phase-out forced Germany to expand its use of renewables, but also at a cost of importing more gas, mainly from Russia.

Against the advice of the United States and faced with mixed and ambiguous attitudes in the EU, notably from France, Germany and Russia agreed to set up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was planned to go live shortly before the war broke out in Ukraine in February.

Since the German government set its sights on the new pipeline, it started investing late in five regasification terminal projects for liquefied natural gas (LNG), the first of which is expected to come online this winter.

While governments like the French are hoping for a mild winter with not too many power cuts, the MEDEF president warned of the “risk of a wall of bankruptcy if we do not resolve the problem of energy prices” which, he said, has been so far thwarted by Germany’s energy strategy.

France backs Brussels' winter proposals, hopeful on Macron's Europe project

France is fully behind Brussels’ proposals, including diversifying supply and possibly limiting energy prices, that should help the continent get through the winter unscathed,  the Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boone told EURACTIV France in an interview.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/]

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