The broad embargo on Russian oil decided on Monday evening in Brussels by the heads of state and government of the EU could mark a break or even the end of the policy of European energy sanctions against Moscow, it emerged from the European summit in Brussels on Tuesday.
“Let us now focus on the implementation of the sixth sanctions package“, exposed the President of the European Council Charles Michel, after having pulled off a rather unexpected agreement, in view of the blockage in recent weeks in Hungary and the reluctance of other landlocked countries dependent on Russian oil pipelines.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, went in this direction by considering that the EU is now reaching the whole of the Russian energy sector, by issuing sanctions on coal and then on oil, as well as by planning to act on the end of European dependence on Russian gas through the RePowerEU strategy.
Check the effectiveness of the measures
In the Commission as in the Council, the important thing now is to check how the economic and financial sector is behaving in Russia. If there are loopholes in the energy sanctions, they will still have to be closed. Only a few Member States”very minority“would support Ukraine in its request for a seventh sanctions package. Targeting Russian gas is certainly not totally excluded, but for that it would be necessary to see an escalation, a significant aggravation.
“For Belgium, this package is a big step forward, let’s stop there for now and see its impact“, confirmed Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, insisting on the need to keep energy prices under control, possibly through a price cap.