Dutch European Commissioner Frans Timmermans (PvdA) believes that Dutch ministers make far too little clear that the Russian war against Ukraine is also directed against the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. According to him, many Dutch politicians still do not fully grasp how deep the crisis is.
Timmermans thinks the cabinet must tackle the energy crisis much more decisively, and says that many EU countries have already announced substantial support packages earlier. The EU is pulling out all the stops to get through the winter without gas from Russia, says Timmermans. “The sense of urgency really needs to be higher,” said the European Commission’s second-in-command on the TV program Buitenhof.
He believes that Prime Minister Rutte “at least has to start by telling the people how serious it is.” He supports the proposal from the PvdA and GroenLinks parliamentary groups in the Dutch House of Representatives to freeze energy prices for Dutch households at the level of early this year.
He pointed out that two years ago, during the coronavirus pandemic, the Rutte cabinet released billions to keep Dutch companies and entrepreneurs afloat. Rutte may now do the same for households, said Timmermans.
The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss plans to freeze the price citizens pay for energy in Great Britain. “Fortunately, in the Netherlands citizens are already saving energy well. That is necessary, because the times of cheap energy are over forever and we will have to switch faster to producing and using renewable energy.”
This week, the European Parliament in Strasbourg is discussing a proposal from Timmermans to expand the European directive on renewable energy production. The directive raises the initial target (32 percent in 2030) after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to 45%.
It is expected that almost all factions in the Europarliament will approve the European Commission’s proposal. For the Greens, the increased target of 45% is not ambitious enough, and an amendment proposing an even higher target of 56% is put forward.