The European Commission officially announced today that it will buy no less than 2027 billion cubic meters of natural gas until 20 in order to reduce as much as possible its dependence on gas from Russia, a decision that may lead to avoid an economic catastrophe in the winter of this year.
"Today in Baku, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson met President Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov to strengthen the existing cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The two presidents signed a new memorandum of understanding on a strategic partnership in the field of energy.
The EU and Azerbaijan are also currently negotiating a new comprehensive agreement which will enable enhanced cooperation in a wide range of areas, including economic diversification, investment, trade and the full use of the potential of civil society, while emphasizing the importance of rights and the rule of law.
Following today's visit to Baku, the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council will meet on 19 July in Brussels to review overall relations and discuss potential areas of mutual interest for future cooperation.
President von der Leyen said: “Today, with this new memorandum of understanding, we open a new chapter in our energy cooperation with Azerbaijan, a key partner in our efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels. We are not only looking to strengthen our existing partnership, which guarantees stable and reliable gas supplies to the EU through the Southern Gas Corridor.
We are also laying the foundations for a long-term partnership on energy efficiency and clean energy as we both pursue the goals of the Paris Agreement. But energy is only one of the areas where we can improve our cooperation with Azerbaijan, and I look forward to exploiting the full potential of our relationship."
The new Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic energy partnership signed today by the two presidents includes a commitment to double the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor to deliver at least 20 billion cubic meters to the EU annually by 2027.
This will contribute to the diversification goals of the REPowerEU Plan and help Europe end its dependence on Russian gas. Based on enhanced energy cooperation, Azerbaijan is already increasing natural gas supplies to the EU from 8,1 billion cubic meters in 2021 to an estimated 12 billion cubic meters in 2022.”
Azerbaijan is the EU's key partner in efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels. 🇦🇿🇪🇺
We are strengthening our existing partnership on gas supplies to the EU via the Southern Gas Corridor and laying the foundations for partnership on clean energy.#REPowerEU
- European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) July 18, 2022
