Mon Sep 09 14:33:23 UTC 2024: ## EU’s Economic Competitiveness Hit Hard by Russian Energy Loss, Says Draghi
**Brussels, [Date] -** Former European Central Bank president and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has warned that the European Union’s economic competitiveness has suffered significantly due to the loss of cheap energy from Russia.
In a report presented on Monday, Draghi highlighted the need for EU policymakers to prioritize lowering energy prices, boosting competitiveness, and strengthening defense investment. He argued that member states are struggling to cope with higher energy prices and can no longer rely on open foreign markets.
“Europe has abruptly lost its most important supplier of energy, Russia,” Draghi stated, emphasizing the growing geopolitical instability and the EU’s vulnerabilities exposed by its reliance on Russian energy.
While energy prices have fallen from their peak, Draghi noted that EU companies continue to face electricity prices 150% higher than those in the US and natural gas prices nearly 350% higher.
This situation is attributed to sanctions imposed on Russia following the Ukraine conflict and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022, drastically reducing Russian gas supplies to the EU. The bloc has been forced to turn to the US and Middle East for costlier liquefied natural gas (LNG).
According to estimates, American LNG is 30-40% more expensive than Russian pipeline gas. Prior to the Ukraine conflict, the US had urged the EU to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, promoting American LNG as “molecules of freedom.”
Draghi’s report serves as a stark reminder of the economic challenges facing the EU in the wake of the Russian energy crisis and underlines the urgent need for policy action to address the situation.
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