Reduce consumption by 15 percent
EU countries agree on gas emergency plan
7/26/2022 3:44 am
The way for a gas emergency plan in the EU is apparently clear: according to a report, representatives of the member states were able to reach an agreement during the night. However, the compromise also has its price.
According to information from the German Press Agency, representatives of EU countries have agreed on an emergency plan to reduce gas consumption. It is due to be officially confirmed today at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels and will reduce the risks that could arise from a complete disruption to Russian gas supplies.
As diplomats from the German Press Agency confirmed during the night, the plan, as proposed by the EU Commission, envisages a voluntary reduction in national consumption by 15 percent between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. In addition, the possibility should be created to trigger a Union alarm in the event of far-reaching supply bottlenecks and to set binding savings targets.
Compared to the Commission’s first draft, however, there are significantly more possible exceptions and the hurdles for the introduction of binding savings targets have also been increased. The latter should only be able to be enforced by the Council of Member States and not by the EU Commission.
In concrete terms, this means that a Commission proposal for binding savings targets needs the approval of a group of 15 of the 27 EU countries. In addition, these must together make up at least 65 percent of the total population of the Union.
Special regulations for Cyprus, Malta and Ireland
Derogations should 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 the gas network of another member state. In other countries, for example, efforts to store gas, an impending electricity crisis and the consumption of gas as a raw material for the production of fertilizers, for example, should be able to reduce the mandatory savings.
The decision-making process for the revised plan is expected to begin this Tuesday at a special meeting of energy ministers. This also requires a qualified majority, which according to diplomats should, however, be achieved without any problems.
Hungary with big reservations
The deliberations of the permanent representatives of the member states have shown that the majority of the countries consider solidarity to be extremely important and want to save gas, it said. In addition to Hungary, only three other member states have recently expressed major reservations. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban had previously caused international outrage in the gas dispute with racist statements and a comparison to the Holocaust.
Germany supports the emergency plans as one of the countries that are currently still heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies. Economics Minister Robert Habeck is expected to attend the special meeting in Brussels on behalf of the federal government. The Greens politician accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “perfidious play” because of the announced further cuts in gas supplies. Putin is trying to weaken the great support for Ukraine and to drive a wedge in German society. In return, he stirs up uncertainty and drives up prices. There are no technical reasons for the delivery cuts.
The Russian gas company Gazprom had just announced that it would reduce deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline from the current 40 percent to 20 percent of maximum capacity. Only 33 million cubic meters of gas should then flow through the most important supply pipeline to Germany every day. The reason was the repair of another turbine, it said.
“Be Prepared for the Worst Case”
The EU Commission sees the announcements as evidence of the need for joint European emergency planning. It was precisely this type of scenario that prompted Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the college to present a proposal for solidarity in saving gas, a spokesman said last night in Brussels. Von der Leyen recently pointed out that Russia is already only delivering gas in part or not at all in twelve member states. “That’s why Europe has to be prepared for the worst case scenario: a complete stop to gas supplies, sooner or later,” she told the German Press Agency.
Von der Leyen countered critics of her emergency plans that the effects of a Russian supply stop on all EU countries would be enormous – no matter how much gas they actually get from Russia. “Even member states that hardly purchase Russian gas cannot escape the consequences of a possible delivery stop in our internal market,” she explained.