Gas will tear us apart

As probably all of you know, EU energy ministers met last Friday to discuss measures for coping with the energy crunch that is threatening the very future of Europe as we know it. Yes, again. No, they didn’t settle on anything. But what some of them did was gang up on Germany.

“Divisions between member states over capping gas prices and tensions over Germany’s €200 billion shield were on full display on Friday (7 October) as EU leaders met in Prague for an informal summit to discuss the ongoing energy crisis,” Euractiv reported last Friday.

The report cited general concerns among poorer EU members that Germany, being richer and able to afford more state aid for its businesses, will hurt the competitiveness of other EU economies. The report also quoted Poland as accusing Germany of destroying the EU internal market by pouring billions into its own businesses. I do hate to be right.

The Polish Prime Minister, apparently, had quite a bit to say about the German aid package and none of it was either solidary or neighbourly.

“The richest country, the most powerful EU country is trying to use this crisis to gain a competitive advantage for their businesses on the single market. This is not fair, this is not how the single market should work,” Mateusz Morawiecki said, concluding that “German selfishness must be put away in the cupboard.”

In case you’ve missed it, Poland is also demanding 1.3 trillion euro from Germany for war reparations. Second World War reparations, that is. Germany has said reparations were a closed book but Poland is not having it. Meanwhile, Greece has also decided to raise the question of wartime reparations with Germany. It’s like someone’s really had it with Berlin, I couldn’t imagine why.