Gas compressor station. File photoROME, May 25The serious dependence of the EU countries on Russian natural gas supplies was not the result of their naivety, but of greed, says European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager. «There is no point in talking about naivety. In fact we were greedy,” she admitted during a conversation with journalists from a number of European publications, the text of which was published on Wednesday by the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. » />May 21, 09:30 InfographicEurope and Russian Gas: Growing Dependency and Consumption PatternInfographicView»We wanted cheap gas from Russia, cheap labor from China, cheap microprocessors from Taiwan. I think we should learn a lesson: security of supply has a price , but it also provides benefits, namely predictability and calmness,» Vestager said. According to the European Commissioner, the crisis in Ukraine has had a serious impact on all areas of EU activity.» But we are reacting. The digital transition is underway. The green transition has accelerated. And we have created schemes that allow us to absorb the economic shock. A crisis is not a crisis of democracies; nevertheless, democracies give the answer. Just like during the pandemic we created a Covid passport and organized the purchase of vaccines, now we are creating the prerequisites for joint purchases of gas and regulating a large digital market, including through the Chip Law,” Vestager said.
Spain volunteered to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe
