France has been more flexible this Wednesday on the Midcat gas pipeline and open to the possibility that this infrastructure, the subject of controversy with Spain and Germany, will pass through French territory in the future if it is considered useful.
Elysée sources have assured that "the Franco-Spanish reflection (on the gas pipeline) has never been interrupted". "We will study at a technical level, as has always been the case, the relevance of this interconnection in particular", they have said from the presidential palace, although it has been insisted that it is a "long-term" issue because, in the short term, it is It is impossible for that gas pipeline to be ready to ensure supply in the coming months.
"There has never been a total closure of France on this matter," they have stressed from the Elysee. "The discussion and dialogue have not been broken," the sources continued. According to Paris, "the international and energy contexts have totally changed and we must take that into account." France ruled out the Midcat in 2019, due to the doubts it generated, but that can be rethought. "European solidarity is the compass of our energy action," the Elysée stressed. The sources recalled that a few days ago the capacity of the two operating gas pipelines between France and Spain was increased.
The new French position has taken place on the eve of the summit of the southern countries of the European Union, which will take place this Friday in Alicante, with the presence of the heads of state and government of nine member states, as well as the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. One of the central points of debate will be European energy sovereignty, although, according to Paris, the discussion on Midcat is not expected to be on the agenda, in principle.
The flexibility shown by the Elysee shows the ups and downs of the French position on the issue. A few weeks ago, after a meeting with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was very hard and visibly irritated by the insistence on the Midcat, and seemed to slam the door definitively on the project. "I don't understand why we jumped like Pyrenean goats on this pipeline to explain that it would solve the gas problem," he said.
