EU leaders seek ways to give support amid high energy prices
ABC News
European Union leaders on Friday agreed to phase out our dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports “as soon as possible.”
VERSAILLES, France -- European Union leaders on Friday agreed to phase out dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports “as soon as possible” and decided to draw up a plan soon to support the continent's economies as they face skyrocketing energy prices amid a crisis aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
Heads of state and government, who gathered at the Versailles palace, west of Paris, said in a statement that the strategy will involve accelerating the reduction of an overall reliance on fossil fuels, diversifying supplies and routes for gas and oil, and speeding up the development of renewable energy. They asked the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, to make proposals by the end of May.
The commission offered suggestions this week to reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two-thirds before the end of the year and phase out its reliance on Russian energy by 2027. Its president, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that increased supplies of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, delivered by ship will mean the EU is able “to replace quite a part of the Russian gas.”
She also encouraged Europeans to move toward energy savings. “Reducing the energy consumption ... by 450 million Europeans makes a big chunk,” she said.
