Katherina Reiche International Energy Policy

Germany's energy system is no longer a national system. Its gas arrives by pipeline from Norway and the Netherlands and by ship from the United States. Its subsidies need the approval of the European Commission, and its climate targets are set within the EU's.

When Reiche took office on 6 May 2025, the ministry she inherited had already handled the 2022 rupture with Russia. Robert Habeck's ministry had built floating LNG terminals at speed and replaced Russian pipeline gas, which in 2021 had supplied roughly 55 per cent of German imports. What changed under Reiche was less the direction than the emphasis. Cost and industrial competitiveness moved to the centre, and so did state-aid negotiations with Brussels, because her key domestic instruments (subsidised gas-fired plants, an industrial electricity price, a reformed EEG) are all forms of state aid.

Her ministry also lost some international remit. Under the organisational decree of 6 May 2025, climate protection and international climate partnerships moved to the environment ministry. Trade policy, foreign economic promotion and energy diplomacy stayed with her.

01 · The European rulebook

Four EU frameworks that bind Berlin

German energy legislation now runs inside European targets and deadlines. These four frameworks set the limits within which the ministry operates.

2021 · Climate

Fit for 55

The EU package to cut net greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990. Germany's own law is stricter: −65 per cent by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2045.

18 May 2022 · Security

REPowerEU

The Commission's plan to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels quickly, through diversification, efficiency and faster renewables, in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

3 Feb 2026 · Law

Russian gas ban

A REPowerEU regulation in force from 3 February 2026 phases out all Russian gas imports, with staggered deadlines up to autumn 2027.

Dec 2025 · 2040

−90 per cent by 2040

Council and Parliament agreed provisionally on 9–10 December 2025 on a 90 per cent net cut by 2040. Up to five points may come from international credits from 2036, and the ETS2 carbon price for buildings and transport is delayed to 2028.

Phasing out Russian gas under the EU regulation
Contract type	Imports banned from
LNG, short-term contracts	25 April 2026
Pipeline gas, short-term contracts	17 June 2026
LNG, long-term contracts	1 January 2027
Pipeline gas, long-term contracts	30 September 2027 (31 October 2027 if storage is low)

Final Council approval came on 26 January 2026, and the regulation was published in the Official Journal on 2 February. For Germany the ban is mainly a legal end point: by 2025 its imports arrived mainly via Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium (see below). Its main effect is to settle permanently what had been a de facto break since 2022.

Analysis Her clearest stated reservation about EU climate policy came at CERAWeek in Houston in March 2026. According to Der Spiegel's report, as cited by German Wikipedia, she questioned "100-percent solutions" for the EU's 2050 climate-neutrality goal. No detailed public statement by her on the 2040 target is documented in the sources used here.

02 · State aid

Brussels as the hinge of German energy policy

Each of her flagship instruments needed a European Commission decision before it could work. The approvals set the scale and timing of German policy.

15 January 2026
Power plants: agreement in principle
After months of talks, Berlin and the Commission agreed the key points of the power plant strategy. The coalition agreement had envisaged up to 20 GW of new gas capacity. The agreement set 12 GW for 2026 tenders: 10 GW of long-term capacity that must be hydrogen-ready and decarbonised by 2045, and 2 GW open to any technology. Der Spiegel had reported in October 2025 that EU state-aid concerns were driving the reduction.
16 April 2026
Industrial electricity price approved
Under its new Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), the Commission approved €3.8 billion for 2026–2028 for about 9,500 companies in 91 sectors, with a target price of 5 ct/kWh. The conditions came from the European framework: support for at most half of consumption, and at least half of the aid reinvested in new or modernised plant.
2 September 2026
Up to €35 billion for new capacity
According to Tagesschau, as cited by German Wikipedia, the Commission approved up to €35 billion in support for the new power plants. The first 4,500 MW auction closed six days later, significantly oversubscribed.
End of 2026
The next deadline: renewables support
The EU state-aid approval of the EEG 2023 expires at the end of 2026. That deadline is one reason the EEG 2027 bill, which moves new installations to market-based support, has to pass in the autumn.

Analysis The pattern is consistent. Berlin proposes, Brussels trims and conditions, and the final instrument is smaller but legally secure. For Reiche this has meant giving up scale (20 GW became 12 GW) in exchange for speed and legal certainty. Critics on the climate side note that the Commission, not the German government, insisted on the hydrogen-conversion and decarbonisation conditions. The power plant case study

03 · Gas after Russia

From pipeline to tanker

In 2025 Germany imported 1,031 TWh of gas. Norway is now the largest supplier, and nearly all LNG landed in German ports comes from the United States.

Norway44%

Netherlands24%

Belgium21%

LNG via German terminals10.3%

Share of German gas imports in 2025 by origin of entry, and the share landed as LNG at German terminals (106 TWh). Categories overlap and do not sum to 100%. Source: Bundesnetzagentur, January 2026.

94.7%

Share of LNG landed in Germany from January to November 2025 that came from the United States

Reported January 2026

~55%

Russia's share of German gas imports in 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine

World Economic Forum

The terminals are at Wilhelmshaven, where a second floating unit began commercial operation on 29 August 2025, Brunsbüttel (operating since January 2023), Lubmin and Mukran on Rügen. A land-based, ammonia-ready terminal at Stade is planned for 2027.

Analysis Dependence on one dominant pipeline supplier has given way to dependence on one dominant LNG supplier. This links German energy security to transatlantic trade relations, the same relations her ministry has to manage in the tariff dispute. Domestically the reliance shows in storage policy. The fill-level target for 1 November was relaxed in 2025, storage stood at 57.4 per cent on 26 September 2026, and a state strategic gas reserve of about 24 TWh is planned from 2027. Energy security covers this in depth.

04 · Trade and partners

Tariffs, raw materials and new markets

As economics minister she is also Germany's trade minister. The documented visits and meetings show where the ministry has put its weight: the United States, China, India, the Gulf and Türkiye.

Katherina Reiche with a US official in front of the US flag and the seal of the Executive Office of the President — With a US official, in front of the US flag and the seal of the Executive Office of the President.

18–21 June 2025 · Washington

First official visit to the United States

Her first major trip abroad as minister took her to Washington, where she met Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The talks centred on the EU-US tariff dispute. On 27 July 2025 the EU and the US agreed a framework that set a 15 per cent US tariff on most EU goods. Trade policy is an EU competence, and no verbatim reaction by Reiche to the deal could be verified for this page.

26–29 May 2026 · China

Beijing and rare earths

On 27 May 2026 she met Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Her delegation included executives from BASF, Thyssenkrupp and Siemens Energy, and the supply of rare earths was on the agenda. In November 2025 she had presented plans for the federal raw materials fund, reported to include €150 million for a gold and copper project in Canada and €100 million for rare earths in Australia.

Mid-June 2026 · Türkiye

Trade and energy forum

A visit for the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) and the German-Turkish Energy Forum, with about 30 business leaders. Türkiye Today announced it for Thursday and Friday of that week (18–19 June 2026).

Katherina Reiche shaking hands with an Indian minister in front of Indian, EU and German flags at the ministry — Shaking hands with an Indian minister in front of Indian, EU and German flags.

23 October 2025 · Berlin

India's commerce minister in Berlin

Reiche hosted Piyush Goyal, India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, in Berlin, as reported by India's public broadcaster. India was not new territory for her: as a state secretary she took part in the first German-Indian government consultations in Delhi in May 2011.

Katherina Reiche walking with Emirati officials in traditional dress — Walking with Emirati officials in traditional dress.

11 July 2025 · Berlin

A UAE-Germany Business Council

According to the UAE state news agency WAM, Reiche and Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and special envoy to Germany, witnessed the launch of the UAE-Germany Business Council in Berlin, with more than 150 business leaders. Günther Oettinger, former Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, co-chairs it for the German side. A ministerial trip by Reiche to the Gulf in November 2025 has been mentioned in some sources but could not be verified.

05 · Ukraine

Keeping the lights on in Kyiv

Two documented visits, a year apart: one about the power grid, the other about governance.

On 24 October 2025 Reiche arrived in Kyiv to discuss repairs to the energy grid and defence-industrial cooperation, as Russian strikes on Ukraine's power supply intensified before winter.

"Ukraine faces its fourth winter of war and Russia is intensifying its attacks on Ukraine's energy supply. This puts electricity and heating provision in the winter in grave danger."

Katherina Reiche, Kyiv, 24 October 2025 · English as reported in Reuters-based wire copy; the German original was not found

In early October 2026 she was in Ukraine again. Ukrainian media reported on 5 October 2026 that she had discussed anti-corruption reforms with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On both trips economic and security policy were linked, a theme she also took up at the Munich Security Conference.

06 · Forums

Paris, Munich, Houston

Three international forums in early 2026 show the arguments she makes abroad: energy security, economic security and affordability.

17–19 Feb 2026 · Paris

IEA Ministerial Meeting

Reiche attended the International Energy Agency's ministerial meeting, which dealt with energy security, sustainability and critical raw materials. The IEA has also recorded a meeting between its Executive Director Fatih Birol and the German minister; its date is not confirmed in the sources used here.

13–16 Feb 2026 · Munich

Munich Security Conference

Political position In a ministry statement on the conference she argued, in substance, that defence capability also means competitiveness, so economic policy is always security policy too. The wording is known only from a search excerpt and is given here as a paraphrase.

March 2026 · Houston

CERAWeek

At the energy industry's annual conference she spoke in English and made two remarks that drew attention at home. She said "the phaseout of nuclear was a huge mistake, a huge mistake and we miss this energy", and "We concentrated on climate protection, we underestimated affordability - that was a mistake that we are going to correct." (World Nuclear News). In May 2025 she had ruled out a return to conventional nuclear power, saying the phase-out had been completed.

07 · A European dispute

The methane regulation: a split inside Berlin

In June and July 2026 Reiche pressed for a looser implementation of the EU methane regulation. The regulation sets rules for measuring, reporting and reducing methane leaks in the oil and gas sector, and its requirements also reach imported fossil fuels. According to Handelsblatt (25 June 2026) and Der Spiegel (8 July 2026), as cited by German Wikipedia, the SPD environment minister Carsten Schneider publicly rebuked her.

Analysis The episode shows the tension in a ministry that depends on imported LNG. Stricter methane rules can raise the cost or limit the volume of supply from exporters whose standards differ from the EU's. Weaker rules undermine a climate instrument the EU has already adopted. The dispute also showed that, since climate policy moved to the environment ministry in 2025, Germany's position in Brussels can be contested between two of its own ministries. See Controversies.

08 · Cross-border infrastructure

Hydrogen imports

Germany's hydrogen core network, about 9,040 km approved by the Bundesnetzagentur on 22 October 2024, is to be completed by 2032. The Hydrogen Acceleration Act, passed by the Bundestag on 26 February 2026 and published on 1 April 2026, classifies hydrogen infrastructure as being in the "overriding public interest". With only 181 MW of domestic electrolysis operating in January 2026, the ministry said it would focus more on imports, naming Morocco as an example, and drop the fixed 10 GW domestic target.

Hydrogen & future energy

Borkum: gas with the Netherlands

On 2 July 2025 the cabinet approved a unitisation agreement with the Netherlands for a gas field that straddles the border north of Borkum. It allows the Dutch company One-Dyas to produce gas from the German side. Deutsche Umwelthilfe calls the agreement contrary to EU law because of its proximity to the Wadden Sea. The Bundestag's economics committee held a public hearing on 25 February 2026. Whether the Bundestag has since ratified the agreement could not be confirmed for this page.

Infrastructure

09 · Record

Verified international engagements

Only meetings and trips confirmed by a named source are listed. Trips reported elsewhere, including to the Gulf in November 2025, India, Japan or Italy, could not be verified and are omitted.

International engagements, 2011 and 2025–2026
Date	Place / format	Focus or counterpart	Source
May 2011	New Delhi, first German-Indian government consultations	As environment state secretary	FAZ, 30 May 2011
18–21 Jun 2025	Washington DC, first official visit	Scott Bessent, Jamieson Greer; EU-US tariffs	Stuttgarter Zeitung
11 Jul 2025	Berlin, UAE-Germany Business Council launch	Sultan Al Jaber (UAE)	WAM
23 Oct 2025	Berlin, bilateral meeting	Piyush Goyal (India)	News on AIR
24 Oct 2025	Kyiv	Grid repair, defence cooperation	Reuters via OE Digital
13–16 Feb 2026	Munich Security Conference	Economic security	BMWE
17–19 Feb 2026	Paris, IEA Ministerial Meeting	Energy security, raw materials	IEA; Tagesspiegel Background
Mar 2026	Houston, CERAWeek	Affordability, nuclear phase-out remarks	Bundestag hib; World Nuclear News
26–29 May 2026	China	Wang Wentao; rare earths; business delegation	Global Times
Mid-Jun 2026	Türkiye, JETCO and Energy Forum	Trade and energy; ~30 business leaders	Türkiye Today
Early Oct 2026	Ukraine	Volodymyr Zelenskyy; anti-corruption	European Pravda, 5 Oct 2026

Sources