AhlulBayt News Agency: Qatar has warned it may halt gas supplies to the European Union in response to the bloc’s due diligence law addressing forced labor and environmental harm, Reuters reported, citing an official letter sent to the Belgian government.
In the letter dated May 21, Qatar’s minister of energy, Saad al-Kaabi, stated that the country was reacting to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which obligates major companies operating in the region to identify and address human rights violations and ecological impacts within their supply chains.
The letter emphasized that unless further revisions are made to the CSDDD, the State of Qatar and QatarEnergy may seriously consider shifting their liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other exports to alternative markets offering more favorable business conditions.
A spokesperson for Belgium’s representation to the EU declined to comment on the contents of the letter, which was first covered by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
The European Commission also received a letter from Qatar dated May 13, according to an EU Commission spokesman, who said that negotiations between lawmakers and member states on revisions to the directive are ongoing.
The spokesman added that it is now up to EU institutions to reach a consensus and adopt substantive modifications based on the simplification proposals offered by the Commission.
Qatar ranks as the world’s third-largest exporter of LNG, following the United States and Australia. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Qatar has accounted for approximately 12% to 14% of Europe’s LNG imports.
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