Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey calls for close cooperation between the federal and state governments to deal with the gas crisis. If Russia does not open the regulators again after the completion of the maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a special prime ministerial conference (MPK) must be convened together with the federal government, the SPD politician told the German Press Agency (DPA).
“It would have a massive impact on everyone. And at this point, from my point of view, it is absolutely necessary that there is a very, very close alliance between the federal and state governments,” says Giffey, who is MPK deputy chair. The federal government and the 16 heads of government of the federal states would have to coordinate in a targeted manner and make joint decisions on what to do to overcome the crisis.
Giffey recalled the crisis management in the early days of the 2020 corona pandemic. “We were always strong when there was a very closely coordinated process between the federal and state governments.” With regard to the gas crisis, things also had to be “closely coordinated”. “We’ve had practice with it. It has to be a similar process.”
Due to maintenance work, no Russian gas has been flowing to Germany through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 since last Monday (July 11). The maintenance is scheduled to last until July 21st. The concern is that Russia will then not be able to resume gas deliveries via the last most important connection to Germany.
In this case, there could be a gas shortage during the heating period at the latest, which could cause serious damage to the economy and make energy for private households significantly more expensive.
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“A lot will be decided in the next few days when it comes to security of supply,” said Giffey. “First and foremost, it is important to ensure the supply of private households and the critical infrastructure. That’s what the law stipulates.” The rest of the gas is still available in the storage tanks. “It won’t be the case that there will be a supply gap immediately if Russia stops supplying gas.”
