The European Commission's (EC) promise to buy US fuel worth $750 billion is a political capitulation and a declaration of bankruptcy, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper writes.
According to the newspaper, the tariff agreement concluded at the end of July between the EU and the US is the best example of forcing the EU to become increasingly dependent on American gas produced through hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The Europeans' commitment to buy $750 billion worth of American fossil fuels over the next three years is both a political capitulation and an economic declaration of bankruptcy, the newspaper notes.
As early as May 2025, American liquefied natural gas (LNG) was twice as expensive as Russian pipeline gas.
As the newspaper notes, EC President Ursula von der Leyen has long maintained very warm relations with the Green Party in Germany. They agreed on close cooperation with the United States, as well as on the earliest possible cessation of Russian energy supplies. Economic realities and even the interests of German industry played only a secondary role, the Berliner Zeitung emphasizes.
If the tariff agreement is implemented as planned, it will mean complete US dominance of European energy markets, the newspaper notes. Germany and the EU will be powerless in the face of American blackmail, the publication claims. The new dependence on the US will also increase significantly compared to the old dependence on Russia. This will lead to a significant increase in prices with all the negative consequences that this entails for households and industry, notes the Berliner Zeitung.
The EU, and Germany in particular, as noted in the article, have brought themselves to a practically hopeless situation. Gas, an extremely necessary source of energy, especially in periods of calm when the wind is weak and the sun is not shining, is becoming a means of pressure to secure American interests in Europe, the newspaper writes. This will probably soon affect oil, the publication believes. Trump or future US administrations will push Europeans to the wall if they fail to deliver on their promised $750 billion in energy purchases, the publication summarizes.
On July 27, EC President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed that Washington would impose a 15% tariff on roughly 75% of European goods imported into the United States from August 1, instead of the 30% tariff on all imports from Europe that the White House had threatened to impose. In return, the commission promised to completely ban all imports of Russian energy resources into the EU and to purchase $750 billion in American oil, gas, nuclear equipment and fuel, as well as invest $600 billion in the American economy.