Germany activated an emergency plan to help Europe’s largest economy manage limited energy supplies as concerns mount that Russia could shut off natural gas deliveries.
The government in Berlin initiated the first of three possible phases of the plan to deal with squeezed energy supplies, German Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck told a news briefing yesterday.
The first phase involves intensive monitoring of gas consumption and reserves.
Photo: Tobias Schwarz, AFP
The move came after Russia said that energy payments be made in rubles instead of euros or US dollars, a demand that German government officials have rejected. Germany’s main energy suppliers have warned in recent days that the dispute could lead to interruptions.
“This is a precautionary decision,” Habeck said. “There have been several statements from the Russian side that, if that doesn’t happen, deliveries will be stopped.”
Habeck said energy supplies are secure and that Germany’s gas storage facilities are 25 percent full.
A task force is to be established that would meet on a daily basis to monitor the situation, and the minister urged companies and consumers to help by reducing energy consumption wherever possible.
Government officials would also talk to energy suppliers and major consumers to discuss how to prioritize gas use.
In the third phase of the emergency plan, the German state would take over management of available energy supplies.
Separately, German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner said that China does not respect the principles that Germany stands for and is a “systemic rival” to Europe’s biggest economy.
“We have to recognize that we have an enormous risk,” the Free Democrat leader and junior partner in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition said in a speech on Tuesday. “China doesn’t respect our social model, our understanding of liberality, our recognition of international law.”
Lindner is voicing his concerns at a sensitive time. On Friday, EU officials are to hold a video summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) where they might reinforce US warnings that China would face serious consequences if it tried to cushion the blow of sanctions against Russia.
The bloc’s officials suspect China might be ready to supply semiconductors and other technology hardware to Russia, said two people with knowledge of the EU’s internal assessments.
While Lindner did not refer to the meeting, he did put stress on what the country represents to Germany.
“Our trade relationship with China is almost a concentration risk for our economy,” he said. “It may be a trading partner, but it’s also a systemic rival.”
Lindner’s comments are not the first by a German official concerned about China’s influence. The previous government — led by former German chancellor Angela Merkel — started adopting more protectionist measures after China’s Midea Group Co (美的集團) swallowed robot maker Kuka AG in 2016.
Two years later, her Cabinet blocked a Chinese bid for the first time by vetoing the potential purchase of machine-tool manufacturer Leifeld Metal Spinning AG.
Lindner did try to put his comments in context, emphasizing that rivalry with China does not mean more than that.
“Please don’t misunderstand me,” he said. “Despite all the risks I see in China, I don’t compare them to Russia in the current situation.”
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