EU countries finally agreed on plan to reduce gas consumption. Against only Hungary
The energy ministers of the EU countries reached a political agreement on the voluntary reduction of gas consumption in the coming winter. Only Hungary opposes it.
This was announced by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, Censor.NET informs with reference to Ukrainian Pravda.
"It was not ``Mission Impossible''! The ministers reached a political agreement on reducing the demand for gas on the eve of the coming winter," the presidency said in a statement.
As noted by the Minister of Energy of Luxembourg, Claude Turmes, the only country that voted against the proposal of the European Commission was Hungary. However, a qualified majority is enough to make a decision.
"The EU has united - agreed on a coordinated regulation of demand by 15% in just 1 week! Reducing our gas consumption by 45 billion cubic meters is the best step to respond to Putin's gas blackmail - only Hungary voted against it," the minister said.
The plan includes a binding target of reducing consumption by 15% in emergency situations, such as a major disruption to supplies from Russia, although it does allow for certain exceptions for particularly vulnerable countries or those that are an integral part of the bloc's network as a whole.
The rapid pace of agreement when the European Commission first proposed the regulation last week reflects the rapidly deteriorating situation with Russian gas supplies.
Supplies through the key Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be cut to around 20% of capacity from Wednesday, and Gazprom said another turbine needed maintenance and would be taken out of service.
This makes it even less likely that EU countries will be able to meet their 80% gas storage target, raising the stakes to cut consumption. Once an agreement is reached, the rules should enter EU law in the coming days.
The new rules are an "unprecedented step of European solidarity," said Sven Hygold, Germany's deputy economy minister. "Member countries that do not import Russian gas are showing support and have pledged to reduce consumption. This has never happened before," he said.
According to a draft seen by Bloomberg, the changes included a provision that would increase the number of countries required to make the 15% demand cut mandatory to five from three.
The European Commission can also propose an emergency measure if it recognizes a high risk of a deficit. Both scenarios require majority support from member states to take effect.
