Germany: government ready to expropriate energy companies

Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is stepping up preparations in the event of a major energy crisis in Germany. A planned amendment to the Energy Security Act provides that, in the event of a crisis, companies operating critical energy infrastructures can be placed under trust. In extreme cases, expropriation is also possible.

The law already provided for it, but now the possibility is made from theoretical to practical, with the modalities of implementation. The amendment went to the departmental vote within the federal government on Tuesday. The energy security law dates back to 1975. At the time it was a reaction to the oil crisis and now needs to be adapted to the current crisis which also involves natural gas. It authorizes the government to take the necessary measures by means of statutory instruments in the event of an imminent threat or disruption of the energy supply.

The prerequisite for companies to be placed under trust, if necessary, is that they no longer perform their functions adequately – and there is a risk that security of supply will be compromised. The Ministry of Economy recently appointed the Federal Networks Agency as a trustee for the German branch of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom , based on foreign trade law. The federal government can thus intervene when German companies are acquired by companies from non-EU countries.

Habeck justified the federal government's appointment as trustee at Gazprom Germany with unclear legal relationships and a violation of reporting regulations. After all, there was a risk of financial failure, since it was no longer possible to financially supply Gazprom Germany by Russian Gazprombank.

As a “last resort”, the amendment to the Energy Security Act also provides for the expropriation of company shares under clearly defined and restricted conditions, if there is no other way to secure energy supply in the infrastructure area. Also because changing ownership does not ensure that you will have the gas or oil needed to produce energy.

The article Germany: government ready to expropriate energy companies comes from ScenariEconomici.it .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/germania-governo-pronto-allesproprio-delle-societa-energetiche/ on Tue, 12 Apr 2022 17:40:16 +0000.