The member states of the European Union came to agreement on the contingency plan for natural gas consumptionwhich was drawn up with the aim of softening the impact of a potential complete disruption of the supply of the 27 from Russia, reports the German Agency.
The plan envisages a voluntary 15% reduction in gas consumption by EU Member States in the period from 1 August 2022 to 31 March 2023diplomats explained to dpa early this morning.
In addition, it provides the creation of a mechanism that will sound an alarm throughout the European Union in the event of widespread gas shortages and the implementation of binding targets for savings and the creation of strategic reserves.
Achieving agreement required softening several of the stricter terms of the original plan and introducing several opt-out clauses, while the ceiling on binding savings limits was raised.
Under the terms of the amended agreement, binding targets for gas savings will be imposed by the European Council rather than the European Commission.
The process of approving the amended emergency plan is expected to begin later today, at a special council of energy ministers. According to the diplomats cited by the German Agency and as relayed by the Athens News Agency, its approval with an enhanced majority is expected to be easy.
The exemptions agreed mean that countries such as Cyprus, Malta and Ireland will not need to store gas, as their distribution systems are not directly connected to those of other member states.
Mandatory gas savings will also be able to be reduced under specific conditions, for example when storage facilities are full, in cases of power outages or for the use of gas by industry as a raw material.
Yesterday Monday, the Russian energy giant Gazprom announced that it has reduced the supply of gas to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from 40% to 20% of its capacity.
It is precisely this scenario that prompted the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to propose the conservation and storage of gas reserves throughout the EUsaid a representative of the Commission in Brussels yesterday afternoon.
During the negotiations of the EU member states, four member states expressed major reservations and objections to the content of the agreement, always according to the diplomatic imgs cited by the German Agency.
Germany, one of the countries heavily dependent on Russian gas, strongly supports the plan. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck is expected to attend a meeting of energy ministers later today.
Source: News Beast
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