–Rome hopes any sanctions would unfold in stages, sees energy sanctions as ‘last resort’ given Italy’s dependence on Russian gas
By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy is lobbying at the European level to exempt Russian energy exports from the European Union’s potential sanctions as Italy would end up paying the highest price, according to ruling coalition sources.
As Brussels is defining a complex set of sanctions against Moscow, Italian officials argue that it is paramount to proceed one step at a time in the announcement and implementation of such measures so as to prevent “dangerous repercussions for Italy’s energy sector.”
Energy accounts for roughly 60% of the value of Russian exports, and Italy relies heavily on Russian gas.
“What is happening at the Russian border is unacceptable and we firmly condemn it. Italy, together with the EU, is closely coordinating a global response jointly with the US but we must be careful and prudent,” warned an official.
“As opposed to other European countries that use nuclear energy and also rely on carbon and alternative energy, Italy almost exclusively relies on gas. We are among the largest importers of gas in Europe, our share is close to 90 percent, of which more than 30 percent is imported from Russia. And given we banned nuclear energy production in 1987 through a referendum, we couldn’t revert to that even if we wanted to. So this crisis really puts at stake our energy consumption needs at a very critical moment when supply is jeopardized and energy prices have spiked so much,” said a source.
Officials explained there was as yet no evaluation of the impact of sanctions against Russia on the Italian economy but stressed that the repercussions would be “more severe for Italy than for any other European country.”
Therefore, the first set of EU sanctions ready to be adopted this week would “help to buy time” and see what Moscow’s reaction would be to the move, delaying for the moment more strict measures that could follow depending on Russian response but which officials said they hoped did not come to include energy.
The EU’s first sanctions package is expected to target Russian banks financing Russian military and the ability of Moscow’s government to access Europe’s financial sector and buy securities issued by member states and European institutions.
Sources said it is paramount “to keep the dialogue door open” with Moscow in spite of expected initial sanctions.
“It is crucial that further sanctions, if warranted, are triggered in succession, gradually, and only if further negative developments in the Ukraine crisis call for harsher measures. It is quite clear that targeting energy through tougher sanctions is what can be defined as ‘the measure of last resort,'” said an official.
“Both sides, Russia and Europe, particularly Italy, have a lot to lose if we come to that stage”.
Sources also noted that Italy had yet to put in place an alternative gas import map by identifying other potential origin countries were Russian gas to be banned.
Italy’s trade lobbies have voiced concern that a halt in gas imports from Russia would further raise inflation in the country in coming months and could significantly lower this year’s growth rate.