EU countries leave hundreds of billions of euros unused to move away from Russian gas
A monstrous amount intended to make the 27 EU member states less dependent on Russian fossil fuels remains unused. "Four years after the start, REPowerEU has come to a standstill, while hundreds of billions of euros are available," says Mihails Kozlovs of the European Court of Auditors, the organization that checks whether EU money is used properly.
The program was launched in 2022 after the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis in Europe. The goal was to make countries less dependent on Russian gas and at the same time accelerate the energy transition.
A report from the European Court of Auditors now shows that of the 300 billion euros allocated for this in 2022, less than 55 billion has been spent. That is less than a fifth. Most countries apparently have not even submitted an application in recent years.
Sanctions
Moreover, the successes achieved in the past four years in terms of energy independence are not necessarily attributable to the EU program aimed at this. Those successes are mainly related to the dozens of sanction packages that the European Commission has imposed on Russia.
As a result, Europe has indeed become less dependent on Russian fuel in recent years. The import of Russian oil has dropped significantly and gas imports have also decreased.
At the same time, European countries remain customers of the Russian energy sector. In fact, in the first half of this year, EU countries imported record amounts of liquefied gas. A new import ban will come into effect in 2027, so it seems countries are taking advantage while they still can.
For Ukraine, this is especially bitter. The EU is Ukraine's most important ally, while Russia still earns revenue from selling gas to Europe. That directly funds Putin's war chest.
Didn't even try
To receive money from the European billions pot of REPowerEU, member states had to present a plan. They could, for example, propose to buy from other suppliers or invest more in renewable energy.
But most countries have not even tried to obtain money. Moreover, according to the Court of Auditors, the EU has insufficient oversight of the progress of projects once they have been approved.
Breathing new life
The EU plan was also supposed to advance the energy transition, but according to the report from the European Court of Auditors, this has not succeeded well. The additional production capacity for renewable energy in the EU is negligible and of the three proposed projects to connect energy grids, one has been completely scrapped.
In response to the report, the European Commission mainly emphasizes what has been achieved but at the same time says it will adopt the recommendations of the Court of Auditors.
The Court of Auditors finds the results after four years insufficient. According to the organization, the European energy plan must be revitalized to make it work properly.