The “sobriety” Did she already pay? Natural gas consumption in the European Union (EU) fell by 20.1% in the period from August to November compared to the average of the previous five years, when the target was 15%, a announced Eurostat on Tuesday 20 December.
To cope with the drastic reductions in Russian gas supplies since the start of the war in Ukraine, the twenty-seven EU member states agreed at the end of July to reduce their gas consumption. between 1is August 2022 and March 31, 2023 and had therefore set themselves the target of a 15% reduction compared to the average of the last five years, by “voluntary reduction measures”.
From August to November, consumption fell “in most member states”, observes the European statistics office in a press release. Eurostat did not provide an analysis of the reasons for this drop, which could be partly explained by a particularly mild autumn in Europe, additional efforts on the part of consumers or a drop in production in certain industrial sectors.
France in the average
Eighteen Member States exceeded the target, some by a considerable margin. This is the case in Finland, Latvia and Lithuania, where consumption fell by 52.7%, 43.2% and 41.6% respectively. It also fell in six other countries, which however did not reach the target. This is notably the case of Spain, Italy and Portugal. Finally, two member countries, Malta (+7.1%) and Slovakia (+2.6%), saw their consumption increase. The decrease observed in France is within the EU average.
Eurostat stresses that gas consumption in the EU has remained, since January, constantly below the average of the last five years. The fall in deliveries from Russia is causing concern in Europe. In order to replenish its stocks next year, the EU is looking to reduce its consumption. It has also decided to proceed with joint purchases, on a voluntary basis. The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, on Tuesday hoped that the first transaction of this type would be concluded. well before next summer.