EU signals desperation to avoid trade war with Trump, desire to buy American gas



President-elect Donald Trump is still months away from taking office, yet the European Union already appears desperate to cut a deal with him.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, addressed members of the European Council in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, signaling a desire to avoid a trade war with the United States and to switch from Russian to American gas.

When asked how she intends to negotiate with Trump on trade, Leyen answered, "I think first of all: Engage. Very important what we have started yesterday."

Leyen was referencing her phone call with Trump Thursday, where she apparently congratulated him on his landslide electoral victory. The German politician noted on X that they discussed defense, Ukraine, trade, and energy.

"Secondly, discuss about common interests. And there are common interests that we have," continued Leyen. "Then go into negotiations."

'They are going to have to pay a big price.'

Leyen said that liquid natural gas was among the common interests she briefly discussed with Trump this week, noting that Europe still gets "a lot of LNG via Russia, from Russia."

According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in the first half of 2024, Europe sourced 48% of its LNG imports from U.S., 16% from Russia, 11% from Algeria, 10% from Qatar, and 4% from Nigeria and Norway.

"Why not replace it by American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices?" said Leyen. "It's something where we can get into a discussion, also [where] our trade deficit is concerned."

The U.S. Census Bureau indicated Tuesday that the trade deficit with the EU in September was $23.8 billion, contributing to the year-to-date trade deficit of $173 billion.

Trump indicated in October that the EU would have to "pay a big price" for not buying enough American exports, reported Reuters.

"I'll tell you what, the European Union sounds so nice, so lovely, right? All the nice European little countries that get together," said Trump. "They don't take our cars. They don't take our farm products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States. No, no, no, they are going to have to pay a big price."

Politico noted that Leyen's maneuver to dodge the steep tariffs of 10% or more that Trump has threatened by promising to buy LNG is largely political theater granted the European Commission is virtually powerless when it comes to dictating European companies' purchases of gas.

"The EU doesn't buy LNG — there's a global LNG market and LNG buyers have their own contract," Laurent Ruseckas, executive director for gas markets at commodities giant S&P Global, told Politico. "It's certainly possible to do a memorandum of understanding to talk about increasing purchases but ultimately in the past that's been a way to put a political wrapper around something that was delivered by the market. And the EU is buying as much LNG currently as the market needs."

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European Commission and the International Energy Agency suggest that people cut energy usage by driving slower, adjusting their thermostats, working from home



The European Commission and the International Energy Agency have suggested that Europeans cut down on energy consumption by adopting practices such as adjusting the thermostat, driving slower on highways, using public transit, working from home, and walking or biking on short trips rather than driving a vehicle.

"Using less energy is a concrete way for Europeans to reduce their bills, cut reliance on Russian fossil fuels, demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and support climate action," the report declares. Ukraine has been striving to defend itself amid a brutal invasion as Russia has been wreaking death and destruction, killing many, including civilians.

Our new guide offering simple steps for EU citizens to reduce their energy use & save money is out now, produced with @Energy4Europe.\n\nThese actions could save enough oil to fill 120 super tankers & enough natural gas to heat 20 million homes.\n\nMore \u2192 https://iea.li/3xDpURI\u00a0pic.twitter.com/n4WvZNKpP1
— International Energy Agency (@International Energy Agency) 1650546904

The energy saving proposal suggests setting the air conditioning on a warmer temperature and lowering the temperature target when heating. It also suggests that drivers reduce their speed in order to increase fuel efficiency.

"The average heating temperature within homes across the European Union is over 22 °C, but many could comfortably accommodate 19 °C or 20 °C. Turning down the thermostat in your home by just 1 °C would save around 7% of the energy you use for heating," the report states. "Setting your air conditioner 1 °C warmer could reduce the amount of electricity used by almost 10% and save you EUR 20 a year."

"Driving too fast is inefficient for the car engine and wastes fuel. The average car in the European Union clocks up around 13 000 kilometres a year. By reducing your average cruising speed on motorways by 10 kilometres an hour, you could cut your household fuel bill by around EUR 60 a year," the proposal states.

Many figures and institutions around the globe promote climate alarmism.

"When it comes to climate change, time really is running out. Earth Day is a reminder that if we pledge to do our part and then follow through on those commitments, we can help preserve and protect our planet for future generations," former U.S. President Barack Obama tweeted on Friday.

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey of "Relatable," responded by tweeting, "If you believed this, you wouldn’t have a mansion on the beach." Obama has a mansion on Martha's Vineyard, a Massachusetts island.

"On Earth Day, let us recommit to coming together and taking on the existential threat of climate change. We must act now to save the planet," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted on Friday.

If you believed this, you wouldn\u2019t have a mansion on the beach.https://twitter.com/barackobama/status/1517569559397474304\u00a0\u2026
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@Allie Beth Stuckey) 1650661134

Poland will not take or pay for any more COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer



Poland has informed the European Commission and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that it will no longer accept nor pay for any more COVID-19 vaccines for now, Poland's health minister said Tuesday.

The decision to stop taking vaccine doses will set up a legal battle under a supply contract the European Union has negotiated with vaccine manufacturers.

Poland and other EU member nations have been paying for and receiving vaccine doses under agreements between the European Union and vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer is the chief supplier for Poland, Reuters reported.

Currently, the country has 25 million COVID-19 vaccines in storage and another 67 million to 70 million doses on order, according to the private news channel TVN24. But compared to other European nations, Poland has reported a below-average vaccine uptake. Just 59% of the country's 38 million people have been fully vaccinated, and only 31% have received a booster shot, below the EU average of 72.5% and nearly 53%, respectively.

As such, Poland's health minister said the country has a surplus of vaccine doses and does not intend to pay for any more.

"We asked both the European Commission and the main vaccine producing companies ... to spread these deliveries over 10 years and — most importantly — to pay when we receive vaccines," health minister Adam Niedzielski reportedly told TVN24 in an interview.

"Unfortunately, here we faced complete inflexibility on the part of the producers,” he said. “There was no way that we could seriously change the terms of this contract, and this contract was signed in a crisis situation."

Niedzielski explained that Poland has triggered a clause in its legal agreement with the European Commission and Pfizer to stop taking additional vaccine doses.

"At the end of last week, we used the force majeure clause and informed both the European Commission and the main vaccine producer that we are refusing to take these vaccines at the moment and we are also refusing to pay," he said.

"Indeed, the consequence of this will be a legal conflict, which is already taking place," he added.

According to the health minister, Poland cannot directly terminate the contract with Pfizer because the agreement is between Pfizer and the European Commission.

Pfizer's contract to supply vaccine doses to Poland alone is worth more than 6 billion zlotys ($1.4 billion), with more than 2 billion zlotys spent on vaccines for 2022.

In a comment to Reuters, Pfizer said its contract to supply vaccines to EU member states is with the European Commission.

"Our discussions with Governments and the details of vaccine deliveries are confidential," Pfizer said.

European Commission health spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said Tuesday that member states were bound by contractual obligations to continue purchasing vaccines, but that the commission understands Poland's "difficult position."

"We continue to facilitate discussion between the Polish government and the company in order to find a pragmatic solution to this specific situation the country is confronted with," he said.

Niedzielski said that Poland and 10 other EU countries have petitioned the EU to loosen regulations on COVID-19 vaccine contracts to allow for flexibility to spend money on health care for refugees from the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"We, in particular, and I am talking about Poland here, currently have financial pressures related to the influx of refugees, so we also feel that, on the EU scale, we have a certain right to expect special instruments that will give us ... greater flexibility in the contracts," Niedzielski said.

Russian airlines and private jets are banned from European airspace



Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that the European Union would close its airspace to Russian aircraft in response to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, ABC News reported.

In a press conference, Von der Leyen said, “We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered, or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the EU.”

“So let me be very clear,” she continued, “Our airspace will be closed to every Russian plane, and that includes the private jets of oligarchs too.”

Von der Leyen also announced that the European Union would be prohibiting media backed by the Russian government.

She said, “The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war. We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”

Second, we will ban the Kremlin\u2019s media machine in the EU.\n\u00a0\nThe state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries,\nwill no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin\u2019s war.\n\u00a0\nWe are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.pic.twitter.com/7RcPEn6E14
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979737

Her press conference concluded with the von der Leyen issuing sanctions on the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Third, we will target the other aggressor in this war, Lukashenko\u2019s regime, with a new package of sanctions, hitting their most important sectors.\n\nAll these measures come on top of the strong package presented yesterday,\nagreed by our international partners.pic.twitter.com/ikN99V14zU
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979897

The European Union also plans to purchase and supply weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Von der Leyen said, “For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.”

These sanctions will further hurt the Russian economy, which has been in a freefall since Russian forces started their invasion of Ukraine. The Russian ruble is plummeting in value, and Western nations continue to barrage Russia with sanctions.

In response to the ruble’s freefall, the Russian central bank is intervening in the foreign exchange market and expanding the list of securities that it will accept as collateral. It is also offering banks 1 trillion rubles so that they have additional liquidity to keep them afloat.

On Saturday, Western leaders proceeded with excluding Russia from the SWIFT telecommunications network, which will prevent the Russian central bank from manipulating its monetary policy to avoid the economic impact of sanctions and make it virtually impossible for Russia to conduct business with its international trade partners.

In a joint statement, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States committed to targeting Russian banks and oligarchs by blocking Russia’s access to the SWIFT network.

The Western leaders said, “We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion.”

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