European Union member states have agreed on a plan to reduce their gas consumption, according to an official source.
“It wasn’t a Mission Impossible! Ministers have reached a political agreement to reduce gas demand before next winter,” the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said on Twitter.
The member states of the European Union thus agree on a plan to reduce their gas consumption. The European Commission last week proposed cutting European gas demand from each member state by 15% from August to get through the winter despite falling Russian supplies. In the face of opposition from several countries, this text has been revised.
The version approved by the 27 includes a number of exceptions linked to each country’s particular gas situation. Yet each state must do “everything possible” to reduce its consumption by at least 15% compared to the average over the past five years, particularly by reducing building heating.
This decision comes in connection with the energy crisis against the background of Russian pressure on gas supplies. Indeed, a maintenance operation on a turbine of the Nord Stream gas pipeline is cited by Gazprom to justify the fall in its gas supplies. From Wednesday they will increase to 33 million cubic meters per day, or 20% of the capacity of the gas pipeline connecting Russia with Western Europe.
This new Russian-European arms pass will undoubtedly be at the center of discussions in Brussels, where European energy ministers are meeting this Wednesday. More than ever, the EU Commission wants to forestall the clean cuts in the Russian gas tap. And to do this, she calls on the states to do everything possible to reduce their consumption by 15% compared to the average of the last five years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe on Monday evening to “response” to Russia’s “gas war” by tightening European sanctions against Moscow.
“Today we heard new gas threats for Europe. Despite the Nord Stream turbine concession, Russia will not undertake gas supplies to European countries as it is contractually obliged to do,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video message. “That’s why you have to fight back. Don’t think about how to bring back a turbine, tighten sanctions,” he added.