A heat wave from North Africa recently hit the Iberian Peninsula, causing persistent heat in Portugal and Spain for several days, and other european countries have also sounded the alarm of heat waves.
At present, almost the whole territory of Portugal is in a state of high temperature red warning, the meteorological department expects the highest temperature in the local area or reach 46 degrees Celsius, high temperature weather leads to frequent mountain fires, as of the 12th, there are still more than 200 mountain forest fires burning in Portugal. France, britain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and other countries have also issued warnings of extreme high temperature weather, calling on citizens to be prepared for heat and fire.
Continued high temperatures have led to a surge in electricity consumption for appliances such as air conditioners, with electricity demand in many parts of Europe reaching record highs and european electricity exchange spot prices approaching historic highs. Natural gas is an important power generation energy source in Europe, and the recent tight supply has made natural gas prices high in Europe, exacerbating the pressure on electricity prices.
People plagued by heatwaves expect air conditioners and fans to cool down, but for politicians, the urgent concern at the moment is how to spend the winter.
Reuters reported on the 13th that a draft plan shows that in response to Russia's possible further reduction of natural gas supply, the EU will encourage member states to reduce the use of natural gas through incentives.
According to reports, the European Commission plans to announce this plan on the 20th. The plan would recommend that countries introduce fiscal incentives to encourage factories and power plants to reduce their use of natural gas and urge consumers to reduce their use of heating and cooling equipment. In other words, you have to save it now.
There's a reason the EU is in such a hurry. The EU followed the U.S. sanctions against Russia after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but the shortcomings of energy have made the EU walk on thin ice every step. German State Secretary Kutches said on the 13th that the EU imports about 158 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia every year, while the United States and Qatar can provide only 30 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas to Europe, and there is a huge gap between the two.
Now, due to annual maintenance, Gazprom's main line into Europe, Nord Stream-1, has suspended gas transmission, and the subsequent gas outage has become a nightmare for Germany and other countries.
According to the ECB's latest forecast, the eurozone economy will grow by 2.8 percent in 2022, a sharp drop from March's forecast, and a slowdown to 1.3 percent in the event of a severe disruption in energy supply. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Georgieva issued a warning on the 13th that the interruption of natural gas supply may cause many European economies to fall into recession.
The falling euro made a footnote to the gloomy outlook for the European economy, falling to a nearly 20-year low at parity with the dollar on the 12th. The Guardian believes that this reflects the market's judgment on the "eurozone recession", and it may only be a matter of time before it finally breaks below the flat.
The Washington Post said the euro's parity against the dollar reflected Europe's fears of a recession. The EU has insisted on sanctions against Russia, but ignored that Russian energy is an integral part of its economic development.
Now, more and more Europeans are beginning to reflect on Europe paying for the United States in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Mick Wallace, a member of the European Parliament, recently bluntly said at the plenary session of the European Parliament that "a survey from the European Council shows that the vast majority of European citizens want peace, not to promote a war to sanction Russia", and pointed out that "NATO is keen on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict" and the real purpose is to defend US hegemony.
The European Commission said on the 13th that Russian goods can cross the EU through the EU by rail in and out of its enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, which to a certain extent defuses the crisis between Lithuania and Russia. A day earlier, the European Union said it expected to pass a directive in October allowing for the confiscation of Russian assets in the European Union after attempts to circumvent or circumvent sanctions were discovered.
How far do you want to follow America? Europeans are likely to be more hesitant. (Author: He Yu, Gao Miaohong)
New Media Producer/ Hong Lin, Producer of Chinese Global Program Center of China Central Radio and Television Corporation/ Producer Of Yang Fengtao/ Wang Xin, Editor-in-Chief of Hou Jingshu/Editor-in-Chief of Lu Guang/Yingling Wu, Xiangyun Shi
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