Filenews 8 August 2025
Ariel Cohen
Qatar has threatened to halt liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the European Union in response to the Brussels Directive on Corporate Due Diligence in Sustainability (CSDDD), which entered into force on July 25, 2025. The CSDDD requires large companies to identify and correct human rights violations (such as forced labour) and environmental damage to their supply chains, otherwise fines will be imposed. The rules apply to both EU and non-EU companies with an annual turnover of more than €450 million. The Brussels directive will not come into full force until 2027 and will be phased in until 2029, depending on the size of the company.
Qatar's anger over the directive reflects the Middle Eastern state's dependence on fossil fuel exports, as well as its systematic exploitation of foreign workers and its controversial international reputation. In a letter to the Belgian government, Qatar's Energy Minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also chairman and CEO of state-owned QatarEnergy, noted that "unless further changes are made to the CSDDD, the State of Qatar and QatarEnergy will have no choice but to seriously consider alternative markets outside the EU for our liquefied natural gas and other products." In his letter, he rejected the climate targets of the European directive, confirming that Doha does not intend to achieve zero emissions in the near future.
To meet their gas needs without depending on Russia or Qatar, EU states may turn to buying more LNG from the US or other suppliers or rethink their nuclear energy policy.
The history of labour rights abuses in Qatar
Qatar's reaction to the CSDDD was likely triggered not only by the centrality of fossil fuels in its economy, but also by the continued neglect of safe working practices. In 2010, Qatar took over the hosting of the FIFA World Cup for 2022. In this decade, the harsh treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup was revealed, as well as the country's first metro to transport spectators to the stadiums.
In 2022, the head of the World Cup Organizing Committee in Qatar, Hassan al-Thawadi, confirmed that 400-500 migrant workers lost their lives during construction projects related to the World Cup. The number of deaths was probably much higher. In addition, the workers were not paid wages, there were phenomena of forced labour, but also... excessive overtime that endangered the workers' organization. Despite promises of reforms and the official abolition of the famous "kefala" system in 2016 (a system of labour exploitation in essence), the World Slavery Index 2023 estimates that 6.8 people per 1,000 of Qatar's population in 2021, which was 2,818,060, were living under conditions of modern slavery, a performance that is not flattering for the Emirate, which has been ruled by the House of Al-Thani for generations.
For now, Qatar has only openly expressed concern about the provisions of the CSDDD requiring companies to implement climate transition plans.
Impact on European energy
This is not the first time that Qatar has threatened to cut off LNG exports to Europe due to the CSDDD. In December 2024, Al-Kaabi said referring to the relevant sanctions: "If I am going to lose 5% of my income going to Europe, then I will not go to Europe... And it's not a bluff."
If Doha implements its threats, the consequences will be negative for Europe's energy security, but EU member states can replenish supplies from Qatar by finding alternatives in the markets of the United States, Nigeria, Algeria and Mozambique. For its part, Qatar can find alternative buyers, especially in Asia. But his insistence on long-term contracts with restrictive resale provisions may be repulsive to Japanese and South Korean buyers.
Qatar's share of LNG imports to the EU has increased as the bloc looks for alternatives to replenish Russian liquefied natural gas following Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In the first quarter of 2024, LNG from Qatar accounted for 9.1% of total EU imports, while in the first quarter of 2025 this figure increased to 10.8%. In 2023, QatarEnergy entered into contracts to supply LNG to Europe with three major companies. In particular, it agreed to supply Shell, Eni and TotalEnergies with several million tonnes of LNG per year for the next 27 years, covering significant energy needs of the Netherlands, Italy and France, respectively.
Europe's dependence on foreign LNG is due to the policies pursued by many of its member states, which prioritized renewable energy sources, excluding more reliable forms of basic energy, such as nuclear, with foreign LNG sources becoming a key component of Europe's energy mix. This treaty has made the EU vulnerable to forces that are ideologically and strategically opposed to the West. Qatar invests hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. academic institutions and think tanks, is the main financier of the global radical Islamic movement of the Muslim Brotherhood and the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank. Doha has close relations with the Taliban and has facilitated their return to power.
In addition to Qatar, the EU's two largest LNG suppliers are Russia and the US. Russian LNG cannot fill an additional 10.8 percent import gap, given the EU's efforts to phase out Russian gas supplies. It remains to be seen whether Europe will turn to the US for more LNG, with the recent EU-US trade deal worth €750 billion potentially signals a larger supply of U.S. liquefied natural gas.
Next steps for the EU
The EU is in a dilemma between its own political priorities (the strict regulatory framework) and its dependence on Qatari gas. The EU leadership may consider it ideologically more consistent to abide by CSDDD rules and phase out LNG supplies from Qatar. In the long term, changing and diversifying its energy policy is strategically correct. By turning to countries such as the United States, a trading partner more aligned with the values of the CSDDD, and by reviewing and returning to nuclear energy, the EU can chart a path towards energy security without succumbing to hostile, oppressive and anti-democratic actors such as Qatar and Russia.