A Senate investigative committee on Wednesday called on France to stop importing Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and push for the fuel to face EU sanctions.
The commission’s report also urged the state to acquire special rights over French energy giant TotalEnergies’ strategic decisions and major shareholder changes.
The inquiry was launched in December at the instigation of Green MPs, but the report was unanimously approved by committee members, although the upper house of parliament is dominated by an alliance of centrist and conservative lawmakers.
TotalEnergies sparked a political uproar in France earlier this year when its chief executive, Patrick Pouyanne, floated the idea of ββmoving the company’s main stock exchange from Paris to New York.
The report urged the French state to take a “special stake” that would give it influence over strategic decisions and changes in the company’s ownership.
Despite the sanctions, Russia still has its hands on Western products
It said such a move was justified given “the evolution of threats to France’s and Europe’s energy dominance, the evolution of TotalEnergies’ shareholding structure.”
North American investors own a large portion of the company’s shares.
The commission’s report also called on France to take the lead among European nations “in proposing the inclusion of Russian LNG in the list of energy products subject to sanctions and to set an example by stopping as soon as possible the importation of Russian LNG into France.”
Although pipeline deliveries of Russian natural gas to Europe dried up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, LNG deliveries by ship have continued, with TotalEnergies transporting the gas from Siberian fields to France.
Western sanctions have targeted Russian crude and petroleum products but spared natural gas, which is key for heating and industry.
China says it is launching an anti-dumping investigation into EU pork imports
The report also called on French companies to halt the start of new oil and gas projects or move forward with new stages of projects underway in Azerbaijan, which will host the UN climate conference in November.
The commission was formed to examine the instruments available to the French state and being deployed to ensure that TotalEnergies fulfills climate mandates and follows French foreign policy objectives. The report made a total of 33 recommendations to the state.
Source: AFP