EU Agrees To Reduce Gas Use Due To Supply Concerns With Russia

In case Russia cuts off supplies, EU energy ministers have agreed that member nations will reduce their gas use.

After discussions on Tuesday, EU members decided that nations should voluntarily cut their gas use by 15% from August to March.

The Czech Republic, which is currently in charge of rotating the EU chair, tweeted, “This was not a Mission Impossible!”.

Draft blueprints, which the BBC was able to get, indicate that the agreement had been weakened and that countries might now request exemptions.

The EU stated that member states “today obtained a political agreement on a voluntary reduction of natural gas demand by 15% this winter in an effort to strengthen EU security of energy supply.”

“The goal of the gas demand reduction is to save money before winter so that we can be ready for any disruptions,”

The deal states gas demand reduction would be become mandatory if a “Union alert” is announced if security of supply reaches crisis levels.

The EU stated that some nations that are not connected to the gas pipelines of other members will be spared from any mandatory gas reduction orders since they will not be able to find alternative supply.

States that are primarily reliant on gas for energy production and are not connected to the European electricity grid are also exempt, according to the EU, in order to reduce the possibility of a shortage of electricity.

Countries may also ask for rule relaxations if they fall short of gas storage filling goals, if their “important” industries depend substantially on gas, or if their gas consumption has increased by at least 8% over the last year compared to the average over the previous five years.

Many opt-outs were anticipated.