Foreign media reported that since the European Commission proposed measures last week to require countries to reduce natural gas use by 15% from next month, it has sparked a quarrel over the scale of gas conservation and whether the EU has the right to restrain it. Officials quarreled regarding it. The plan needs to be approved by member states at a meeting of energy ministers this week.
According to a draft proposal seen by FT reporters, EU countries have suggested that while a unified voluntary target is implemented across the bloc, mandatory targets should take into account countries’ dependence on Russian gas and the fact that they have managed to import storage The amount of natural gas in the library.
Before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU relied on Russia for regarding 40 percent, or 155 billion cubic meters, of gas, but has since vowed to cut off demand for Russian gas by 2027, the report said.
The European Commission last week suggested that member states should aim to cut gas demand by 15% over the next eight months, on average between 2017 and 2021.
The voluntary cuts might become mandatory if the European Commission believes the energy crisis has become severe enough, or if three member states demand changes, the report said. But EU governments – especially southern European countries that are generally less reliant on Russian gas – have complained that the European Commission is overreaching its powers and that the 15% gas reduction target is too high.
