The European Union’s top parliamentary official confirmed Sunday that European nations stand ready to import Canadian oil and gas, indicating the bloc may accept higher energy costs to secure supplies from dependable allies rather than unreliable partners.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola answered affirmatively when questioned during a CTV Question Period interview about potential European demand for Canadian energy exports.
“If you see how we have pivoted over the last years, we found ourselves when Russia invaded Ukraine, that we were completely, to a certain extent, reliant on a very unreliable partner for gas and oil,” Metsola said. “That meant that we have had to divest, uncouple ourselves, and we’re almost completely done.”
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When pressed on whether Europe would absorb higher import costs in exchange for energy from reliable partners like Canada, Metsola said those discussions are happening “right now.”
“We have had to go into very, very expensive divestment when we had to uncouple from Russia,” she said. “We also have other perhaps more unreliable partners in which we are importing fossil fuels, because we need to keep our energy bills low.”
Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the EU’s push to eliminate Russian energy imports. Prior to the conflict, Russian suppliers provided roughly two-fifths of European gas consumption.
Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest natural gas producer. The country has existing energy partnerships with the EU through initiatives like the EU-Canada Green Alliance and High-Level Energy Dialogue.
Recent Canadian government changes have also signaled a shift toward supporting liquified natural gas exports to Europe, reversing previous positions that questioned the economic viability of such projects.
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