sSpain and Portugal fought over the Medcat. In the end, Bremer got out of it. A ‘green energy corridor’ under the Mediterranean connects Barcelona with Marseille and bridges the huge gap that still exists between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa have unsuccessfully tried to defeat the French president Emmanuel Macron To impress the other alternative, the above-ground Medcat (“Midi Catalunya”) pipeline from Catalonia to the French Midi region.
The federal government had hoped that this pipeline across the Pyrenees would supply Germany initially with gas and later with “green” hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources. It was only on Friday Olaf Schulz He spoke to Sanchez and Costa in Berlin about the project, which the chancellor had previously “candidly” promoted. But even the last attempt by the two Iberian heads of government at the start of the EU summit in Brussels failed: Macron triumphed, and the three finally declared themselves winners. Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said on Friday that Spain’s “heavy” in the European Union’s energy supply is increasing and the country is finally getting a much-needed connection with Europe.
On the French president’s agreement on the “green energy corridor” Barcelona to Marseilles was a major diplomatic breakthrough, and the Elysee watched with growing concern as the German government pressured the completion of the Medcat pipeline through the Pyrenees. On one occasion, Macron also publicly expressed his displeasure and said in response to a journalist’s question that Midkat was not the Chancellor’s business. The fact that the Midcat project is now finally abandoned in Paris is seen as a negotiating success.
Macron and Schulz want to move forward
In Brussels, Macron fired more conciliatory tones into the early hours of the morning. A meeting with Schultz is scheduled in Paris on Wednesday “to move forward”. The focus should be on energy issues. The French government has repeatedly argued against Midcat as a gas link through protected natural areas and grape-growing areas. Above all, it saw technical difficulties in converting the existing gas connections in the Rhone Valley to transport hydrogen. In addition, there is doubt in Paris that the reliance on natural gas, which the federal government describes as a “bridging technology,” could last much longer than is currently reported. Therefore, there was a reluctance to build a new infrastructure for fossil fuels.
In Brussels, Macron stressed how much the planned Green Corridor will contribute to “strengthening the energy transition” and increasing access to alternative energy sources in Europe. Europa It should facilitate. France suspects Germany will not meet its CO2 climate targets2– Emissions may wane with a reference to stopping Russian gas supplies. The joint statement of the three Heads of State and Government explicitly states that the maritime connection from Barcelona to Marseille should be used only for a “limited share of natural gas” as “a temporary and transitional source of energy”.
