EU unveils escape route from Russian fossil fuels

STORY: The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Europe's top gas supplier, has prompted the European Union to rethink its energy policies amid sharpened concerns of supply shocks. Russia supplies 40% of the bloc's gas and 27% of its imported oil, and EU countries are struggling to agree sanctions on the latter.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war is as we all see heavily disrupting the global energy market. It shows on one hand how dependent we are on imported fossil fuels. But it also shows how vulnerable we are on relying on Russia for importing our fossil fuels. And therefore, we must now reduce as soon as possible our dependency on Russian fossil fuels," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference.

To wean countries off those fuels, Brussels proposed a three-pronged plan: a switch to import more non-Russian gas, a faster rollout of renewable energy, and more effort to save energy.

To spearhead the plans, the Commission proposed a higher legally-binding target to get 45% of EU energy from renewable sources by 2030, replacing its current 40% proposal.

The European Commission also proposed a 9 billion euro loan to Ukraine to keep the country going as it struggles to fend off the Russian invasion and wants to set up a reconstruction facility for after the war.

The money for the 9 billion loan would be borrowed by the Commission on the markets under the macro-financial assistance mechanism, backed by guarantees of EU governments.