Scholz argued that building the gas pipeline, known as MidCat, to transport energy between the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal and the rest of Europe is a “fundamental element” in guaranteeing the energy supply of the highly dependent European Union (EU). Russian Gas and countries that have expressed “clear support for this merger”.
Asked about French opposition to the plan, the head of the German government replied that he did not “think he was excluded.”
Scholz spoke at a press conference alongside his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, at the end of the Spanish-German summit in A Coruña.
“That’s our collective perspective [o diálogo sobre o gasoduto] It has always been in friendly cooperation with France and we do not have the impression that it has been excluded”, said Scholes.
The German chancellor noted that the project has a long-term perspective and will help transport gas immediately and provide other energies such as hydrogen in the future.
He said that “more connections are needed in Europe” and that these projects “may not be profitable now” but could be “from one day to the next”, highlighting how the war in Ukraine and the Russian threat to cut off gas to Europe are pressing to protect the gas pipeline project in the Pyrenees. Showed how to work on diversifying resources.
Pedro Sánchez, in turn, reiterated that the commitments made by Portugal, Spain, France and the European Commission at the summits in Madrid in 2015 and in Lisbon in 2018 are at stake.
These commitments are currently less than 5% of the energy interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and France, with 10% capacity by 2020 and 15% by 2030.
In a “quiet international environment” this could be “an element of concern”, but in the current environment dependent on Russian gas and threats to European supplies, “Spain has regenerative capabilities” that are not possible due to the lack of interconnections with the rest of Europe, Sánchez said.
The Spanish prime minister added that the “big irony” is that the Iberian Peninsula is an “energy island” because it lacks these links to energy transport, but Portugal and Spain are subject to European controls.
“What the Iberian Peninsula is asking for is to be integrated into the energy market”, assuming that this would benefit France, Germany and all Europeans, giving “more energy alternatives” for “greater peace”.
The Spanish prime minister said that this “corridor” for hydrogen and gas transport is “not a bilateral issue between the Iberian Peninsula and France”, but “a problem, a challenge and a European commitment”.
“If we understand him as a European, I believe we can find a more appropriate and quicker solution,” he said.
Spain and Germany celebrate their first bilateral summit in nine years today, coinciding with a moment of rapprochement between the two executives over projects such as a new gas pipeline in the Pyrenees.
Last August, Schalls first advocated the construction of a pan-European gas pipeline to connect the Iberian Peninsula from Portugal to the rest of Europe.
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