Spiegel: EU agrees on gas emergency plan
Representatives of the EU countries have generally agreed to the European Commission's plan to reduce gas consumption, but there will be several exceptions
Spiegel reports.
As noted by the publication, the countries should officially confirm the agreement this Tuesday at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels. It should reduce the risks of altogether ceasing russian gas supplies.
As diplomats confirmed to dpa on Tuesday night, the plan proposed by the European Commission involves a voluntary reduction of national consumption by 15 percent between August 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.
In addition, a provision is included that allows for triggering an EU alarm in severe supply disruptions and establishing mandatory savings targets. However, compared to the Commission's first draft, there are significantly more possible exceptions.
In particular, the European Commission's proposal for mandatory savings targets needs the approval of 15 of the 27 EU countries. In addition, they must make up at least 65 percent of the total population of the European Union.
Exceptions should also provide, for example, that countries such as Cyprus, Malta, and Ireland should not be obliged to save gas as long as they are not directly connected to another Member State's gas network.
To recap, the European Commission proposed a plan to reduce gas demand to reduce the use of gas in Europe by 15% by next spring.
Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France, and Poland spoke against the initiative. Hungary is opposing the plan as well. Germany supports the emergency plans as one of the countries that are currently still heavily dependent on russian gas supplies.
The President of the European Commission believes Europe should be prepared for the worst scenario with russian gas.
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Tomorrow European Commission will present proposals for a quick withdrawal from Russian gas and oil
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