With no sign of the end of the Russia-Ukraine war in the future, Europe will likely have a hard time dealing with its energy crisis with winter approaching. Early this year, the president of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen cautioned the member-States and asked them to bring down their natural gas consumption by at least 15% by the end of 2022.
With the looming energy crisis, many States have already taken steps through legislation such as incentivising citizens to use public transport, lowering their energy bills, and increasing public ownership of energy companies. Europe is highly dependent on Russia for its energy needs as 40% of its energy is imported from Russia. As a retaliation to European Union (EU) sanctions, Russia has reduced gas supply by almost 80% with the complete shutdown of Nord Stream 1 which transports the majority of its gas to Europe this winter. Russia justifies its actions by claiming that its action is a natural consequence of the economic sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow. Many European nations are preparing to avoid any major blackouts in the event of a severe winter in Europe.
