Based on an idea of Margaret Thatcher, the European Commission started to implement a strong policy of liberalization of the European energy markets, including the separation of supply and production activities, and the gradual obligation to trade energy through the European Energy Exchange (EEX) AG in Leipzig. This has led to an increase in the price of energy in the EU towards the fall of 2021, before any war with Russia!

Eurostat: Energy prices on the rise in the euro area in 2021:

But it started even earlier for electricity: Historical highs in European energy markets in the first half of 2021:

So, while we know that we can’t blame Russia for the sudden increase in both electricity and gas prices for the home consumers that started to become apparent in the fall of 2021, what can be said about the natural gas imports from the United States? Were they a reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

No, this predates the war in Ukraine!

As I wrote in March 2022, the EU has designed an energy plan based on increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US (following the July 2018 Trump-Junker agreement!) long before the Russian invasion. At that time, I gave a link that’s not valid anymore. However, the original document can be found here. There is also an updated version of the document.

Below, you can see the contents of both versions of the document that subordinates the European Union to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the United States. These are facts, not judgments.