EU Energy Sovereignty
Question:
Should the EU put a price cap on Russian energy in order to divert funds towards EU energy sovereignty?
What would be the repercussions of this decision?
Would this decision be a threat to Russia or a means of self protection for the EU?
Does the risk outweigh the reward, so to speak?
Background:
In October the EU released plans to implement a price cap on Russian oil
exports. The plan is to prohibit any vessel transporting
Russian oil being sold above the price cap from receiving services from European providers (such as servicing, financing,
and insurance). The goal is to force ship owners to reconsider delivering Russian oil, as the risk is too great.
Our ideas:
Putin would perceive a price cap as aggressive, which could put the EU at risk of being cut off completely during
the winter months or being at risk of triggering even greater conflict and tension between Russia and the European countries.
This could be an opportunity, however, for the EU to channel funds into energy research and development and try to become
independent from Russian gas and possible unstable relations in the future. It can also help increase their energy security
in the long term since it can already now be seen that countries focus again more on increasing their own energy production.
This opens the choice which energy generation methods the countries want to focus on, possibly enabling more sustainable
and emission free sources than the fossil fuel gas.