The president of Enagás, Antonio Llardén, says that the EU must be "a little less naive" in decarbonization

Brussels, July 3 (EFECOM).- Enagás President Antonio Llardén said Thursday that the European Union must be "a little less naive" in its transition toward a decarbonized economy and urged some form of taxation of imports of products manufactured in third countries with a carbon footprint.

This was expressed at an event organized in Brussels by El Periódico-Prensa Ibérica and Agenda Pública, entitled "European Bridges." The first event in the European capital was dedicated to the bloc's strategic autonomy, its energy interconnections, and Spain's position.

During his speech, Llardén emphasized that "if Europe wants to be competitive, it must be aware" that the price of gas in the Old Continent is up to three or four times higher than in the United States, and that this "influences" economic competitiveness.

He recalled that before the war in Ukraine, the average gas price in Europe was around €25 per megawatt-hour, while in the United States it was €15. At the worst point after the invasion, the price in Europe exceeded €300, while in the North American region it doubled to €30. Now, the European price is around €30 and in the United States it stands at €10.

"If Europe wants to be competitive, it has to be aware of this (...) Stop being a little less naive and know that, if we demand carbon-reduction measures from our industry, which we think are correct, you can't buy that product from abroad, generating CO2," he stressed.

Import taxes

The president of Enagás argued that "somehow, you have to impose some kind of tax" on these imports, and pointed out that China, despite having developed "tremendously" in terms of energy and having deployed many renewable energies, still has 60% coal in its energy mix.

"If we had a 60% coal-fired energy mix in Europe, there would be protests in the streets," he emphasized, adding that "the transition is a bit more complex due to these types of issues."

Thus, Llardén stated that the European goal of guaranteeing energy supply is important from a security perspective, but also "for the competitiveness" of the business community. In his opinion, this objective "must be linked to industry in the broadest sense" because otherwise, there is a risk of turning Europe into a "theme park."

Along these lines, he asserted that it is "quite evident" that the economic model of a continent without industry, that "buys everything abroad" and bases its economy on tourism "cannot work."

Spain can play a certain role

In this context, he argued that Spain "can play a certain role" in this European strategy for energy supply security because, along with Portugal, it has already had to "work on its autonomy" for geographical reasons and the peninsula's distance from gas fields.

The president of Enagás recalled that Spain opted for a "dual gas structure" with transportation via high-pressure pipelines but also with a regasification plant structure, which, he said, was still being questioned in 2019.

"That's what's changed in Europe," he said, going on to emphasize that Spain has a liquefied natural gas storage capacity that represents up to 40% of all of Europe's, and that the Barcelona plant alone represents 7%.

This preparation led to the fact that, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Spain's and Portugal's gas reserves were used to export gas to the rest of the continent through interconnections that were initially intended for imports and that "have worked both ways."

"It's an issue that Europe is now beginning to view with great interest, and Spain can play a role due to its geographic location, history, and situation," he said.