Last Friday, the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher recalled the importance of European solidarity to get through the winter. Except that this solidarity creates cold sweats at the top of the state, where we fear a political time bomb.
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It’s a press release, in the heart of summer, which went a little unnoticed. At the end of the council of July 26, European heads of state, including Emmanuel Macron, signed a text recalling the principle of “essential solidarity between member states” on gas.
So far, nothing surprising. This is a philosophy that we already find in the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. Except that today, all of Europe is experiencing the same energy crisis. It is therefore no longer a question of helping a neighboring country that needs Canadair. Concretely, this agreement means that France could be required to supply gas to some of its neighbors in difficulty, to the detriment of its own nationals. In theory, this means that France could reduce its gas consumption in order to be able to supply, for example, gas to German hospitals.
“The populists are not going to miss us”
A politically explosive posture, especially since France is one of the countries whose inhabitants are the least favorable to the EU. So, at a time when we have limited stocks, when we are short of gas ourselves and when the government is asking for efforts, how can we explain to the French people that we will eventually cut off their gas to sell it to our neighbours?
“It’s a very sensitive subject.“, recognizes a Macronist heavyweight who speaks of an absolute irritant”. At the Ministry of Energy Transition, however, we want to be reassuring and we remind you that it is technically impossible to cut off the gas to individuals. But, behind the scenes, the executive is preparing for a salvo of criticism: “Populists won’t miss us“, worries a member of the government. And the oppositions are already in ambush: the National Rally had already attacked on the subject this summer, at Zemmour, we have been denouncing the European energy market for months.
But, for the time being, this remains a hypothetical controversy. Because, for the moment, the indicators are green: France and Germany have succeeded in filling their gas stocks. The reality is that it’s a “give and take”: we know that France itself will need electricity. And European solidarity is a “winning bet“, insists the government.
But the fact that this subject is broached in the discussions in the ministries shows a form of feverishness on the gas crisis, against the backdrop of the question of inflation and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. A source in Brussels recently confided: “There is a risk that the Europeans will get tired, that they will refuse the consequences of the sanctions on Russia…” Winter will therefore be a test for European solidarity and for the government. French.