EU “Sustainability” rules anger Qatar: “LNG will be stopped unless the rules are changed.”

Europe, in its relentless pursuit of bureaucratic and moral perfection, has produced yet another directive: the CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive). A high-sounding name that, in practice, requires large companies to monitor and address "negative impacts on human rights and the environment" throughout their global supply chains.

Approved last April by a broad (and predictable) coalition of the left, Greens, and centrists, the law was immediately criticized by those who saw it as yet another bureaucratic burden for businesses . But now, the one presenting the bill isn't a small industrial lobby, but an energy giant.

Qatar, one of the world's leading producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) along with the United States, Australia, and Russia, did not take it well at all.

Saad Al-Kaabi , Qatar's Energy Minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, was unusually blunt on Monday. At a conference in Abu Dhabi, he warned that the emirate could "freeze" LNG exports to Europe if the CSDDD is implemented as it stands.

The bone of contention is clear, and it is not (only) ideological, but economic: “If Europe does not seek to water down or abolish the CSDDD, and maintains a 5% penalty on our total global turnover, we will not deliver LNG to Europe, that's for sure.”

An Energetic “Own Goal” at the Worst Time?

This threat doesn't come at any time. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the resulting collapse of supplies from Moscow, European demand for LNG exploded. Qatar has become an indispensable supplier for the continent's energy security.

In recent months, the emirate has signed long-term strategic agreements with key players, including:

• The French Total
• The Italian Eni
• The Indian Petronet
• China's Sinopec

While Asian partners evidently don't face European due diligence concerns, our companies find themselves caught in the middle. Al-Kaabi emphasized that Qatar's vision of business and transition (which includes the need for oil and gas for the future) hasn't changed.

The CSDDD Directive, proposed by the Commission in 2022 and adopted in April 2024, has not yet entered into force. It remains to be seen whether Brussels will prefer the rigidity of the CSDDD's ethical principles to the flexibility required by energy security. Refusing Qatari gas supplies would be very costly in the short term, especially since multinational companies like Exxon have already threatened to abandon the European market for the same reason.

As often happens, economic reality risks presenting a very high price to good intentions.

Questions and Answers

What exactly does the CSDDD provide?

It stands for "Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive." It's a new EU law that requires large companies operating in Europe to identify, prevent, and mitigate negative impacts on human rights (such as forced labor) and the environment (such as pollution or deforestation) throughout their entire global supply chain. If they fail to do so, or if their suppliers are non-compliant, companies risk severe penalties, including fines of up to 5% of their global turnover.

Why is Qatar so opposed to this directive?

Energy Minister Al-Kaabi considers it impractical and punitive. The threat of fines (up to 5% of global turnover) for alleged violations in the complex LNG supply chain is seen as excessive commercial risk and interference. Qatar fears that the rigid application of these rules, which touch on complex issues in global contexts, will effectively make energy trade with Europe impossible or uneconomical, pushing it to prefer markets (such as those in Asia) with fewer bureaucratic constraints.

Can Europe really do without Qatari LNG?

Hardly in the short to medium term. After abandoning most of its Russian gas pipeline shipments, the EU has turned heavily to LNG by ship to ensure its energy security. Qatar is one of the world's largest and most reliable producers. European energy companies, such as Italy's Eni and France's Total, have signed 20-year supply contracts with Doha. Losing this supplier would mean a new, serious energy crisis, with prices likely to rise sharply and a rush to find alternatives, which are currently in short supply.

The article EU “Sustainability” rules irritate Qatar: “Stop LNG unless you change the rules” comes from Scenari Economici .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/le-norme-sulla-sostenibilita-della-ue-irritano-il-qatar-stop-al-gnl-se-non-cambiate-le-regole/ on Tue, 04 Nov 2025 10:00:00 +0000.