“It was not an impossible mission! Ministers reached a political agreement on reducing gas demand in anticipation of next winter,” the Czech EU Presidency announced on its Twitter account.
The plan, proposed last week by the Commission, has been radically revised, but its main principles are preserved.
It still provides that each country will do “everything possible” to reduce, between August 2022 and March 2023, its gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the last five years over the same period.
In the event of “risk of serious shortage”, an alert mechanism will make the 15% reduction “binding” for the Twenty-Seven, but this objective will be adapted to the realities of each country, in particular to the capacities to export the quantities of gas saved to countries in need, thanks to a series of exemptions.
The Russian giant Gazprom announced on Monday that it would drastically reduce its daily deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline to 33 million m3 from Wednesday, citing the need for maintenance of a turbine.
“The EU stands united and united. Today’s decision made it clear that member states will oppose any Russian attempt to divide the EU by using energy supplies as a weapon,” the minister said. Czech in charge of Energy, Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
“The adoption of the proposal (…) in record time has undoubtedly strengthened our common energy security. By saving gas now, we will be better prepared. Winter will be much cheaper and easier for citizens and the EU industry,” he said.
– Opposition from Hungary –
“Reducing our gas consumption (…) is the best way to react to Putin’s gas blackmail,” commented his Luxembourg counterpart, Claude Turmes. Of the 27, only Hungary opposed the text, he pointed out.
“Our industrial production chains are completely interdependent. If chemistry coughs in Germany then all of European industry can stop,” warned French Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher on her arrival for the meeting.
At the heart of the European system, the binding reduction of 15% in consumption had aroused criticism.
It aims to pool the effort in the event of an emergency to help Germany in particular, which is very dependent on Russian gas. A major shock to Europe’s leading economy would inevitably have repercussions on all of the Twenty-Seven. Hence the need for solidarity.
In fact, it imposes constraints on countries like France and Spain, which are nevertheless sheltered from a break in Russian supplies thanks to their energy policies.
“Germany has made a strategic mistake in the past” by cultivating this dependence on Moscow and the government is working hard to remove it, acknowledged German Minister Robert Habeck, while asking for European solidarity. “Now we have to solve this together,” he said.
The plan had in recent days been the subject of strong criticism from several states. Among the most virulent: the countries of southern Europe, including Spain, where the memory of the painful austerity plans imposed by Berlin after the 2008 financial crisis is still vivid.
Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera had denounced a lack of consultation on the part of the Commission and deemed the plan “unfair” and “ineffective”.
The diplomats of the 27 took this into account. It will ultimately be the Council of the EU, representing the Member States, and not the Commission, as the latter requested, which will decide on the possible implementation of the binding targets.
The agreement provides for exemptions for states, particularly island states, which are not interconnected with the gas networks of other countries or for those which have exceeded their targets for filling gas reservoirs. It also reduces the savings target of countries whose interconnections are limited or which need gas for certain “critical industries”.