Should things get tight in Germany or France with electricity and gas, the two countries want to help each other out. Scholz and Macron assure each other that. The case has already occurred in the neighboring country - which has an impact on the German gas price.
France and Germany have assured each other of mutual aid in the energy crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron said after a video link with Chancellor Olaf Scholz that France was ready to supply Germany with gas. Germany has agreed to send electricity to France if necessary, he added in Paris. The necessary connections for France to deliver gas to Germany if required would be completed in the coming months.
The EU neighboring countries are currently supplying France with electricity because a number of French nuclear power plants had to be shut down. In Germany, for example, the necessary generation of electricity from gas also drives up the price of gas. Macron advocated decoupling the price of electricity from gas prices and buying more gas at the European and no longer at the national level.
According to information from delegation circles, differences also became clear in the conversation. Macron emphasized that he did not understand the Spanish criticism that no third gas connection was being built from Spain to France. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's arguments have not convinced him so far. At a meeting with Sanchez last week, Scholz also expressly emphasized how important it is for the Iberian peninsula to be well connected to the European gas and electricity grid.
Sanchez had offered to take over a third of Europe's gas supply with the Spanish LNG terminals. If necessary, a pipeline will be built to Italy. Spain has the most liquid gas terminals in Europe and also a pipeline from the gas producing country Algeria. However, there is no major connection to France, a project was canceled years ago due to inefficiency. It could be revived with the help of the EU.
