Russia will remain important energy supplier to the EU

Russia will remain a very important energy supplier to the European Union, said European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on the occasion of presenting the European Energy Union. "It's about getting the future relationship between Russia and the European Union into a more balanced position. That means, just as the European Union respects Russian legislation on their territory, Russia of course respects European laws," stated Šefčovič. According to him, the EU should among other things reduce the differences between purchase prices of natural gas in various EU member states. "Each country of the EU buys natural gas from third parties for different prices gradually; this should be removed by being much more open towards each other, more transparent." Šefčovič added that the EU wants to build a mechanism that would have the member states informed about their long-term gas contracts for this purpose. Moreover the European Commission Vice-President Šefčovič is not giving up on the idea of joint purchases of natural gas within the European Union.