Can Europe overcome the energy crisis?

陈小将

All Europe, not just the European Union, is suffering the consequences of skyrocketing energy prices, especially gas and electricity prices, and the disruptions in Russian gas supply to Europe. And with the eurozone heading toward an economic recession, people and enterprises in Europe are in for bigger shocks.
All EU leaders have acknowledged the extremely difficult situation Europe is in now. According to Oxford Economics, some of the economic problems, especially inflation, is the result of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting diversion of huge amounts of funds to deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic.
However, the biggest economic blow to the EU has come from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, because it has distracted the European bloc from implementing proper economic policies to absorb the inflation shock. In contrast, if China takes an approach to better balance economic exigencies and pandemic control, as a result, China's GDP is likely to grow by 5-6 percent in 2023.
"The next five to 10 winters will be difficult," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned recently as fuel prices and electricity bills reached record highs. What's worse is that the energy crisis has fueled the liquidity crisis leading to bankruptcies. As Finnish Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintila said, the unfolding liquidity crisis has all "the ingredients for a kind of a Lehman Brothers of energy industry".
According to Euractiv, European energy companies have been strained by "margin calls" — or the need of capital to secure energy trade — of at least $1.5 trillion. In October 2021, OTIMA, a midsized utility based near Berlin, became the first German energy and gas supplier to file for bankruptcy following spikes in electricity prices.
In Austria, Wien Energie, a local energy utility which is also the country's largest energy company, has asked the government for a