The energy ministers of the EU countries are coming to a special meeting this week gas crisis together. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made an urgent appeal shortly beforehand critics of their contingency plans. The President of the EU Commission is urging that countries with little dependence on Russian gas supplies also participate in savings efforts. “Even member states that hardly purchase Russian gas cannot escape the consequences of a possible delivery stop in our internal market,” she told the DPA news agency shortly before a special meeting of energy ministers next Tuesday. The economies in the EU are closely intertwined. A gas crisis would affect every Member State in one form or another. “It is therefore important that all member states reduce demand, that everyone saves more and shares it with those members who are more affected,” added von der Leyen. Energy solidarity is a basic principle of the European treaties.
Spain and Portugal, among others, had criticized a proposal by the EU Commission for a gas emergency plan. The Portuguese government could not accept the proposal at all because it was “unsustainable”, said the State Secretary for Environment and Energy, João Galamba, in an interview with the newspaper “Público”. “We consume gas out of absolute necessity,” he assured. The Spanish Minister for Ecological Change, Teresa Ribera, had already complained on Wednesday: “We can’t make any sacrifices that we haven’t been asked about.” She emphasized: “Unlike other countries, we Spaniards have not lived beyond our means when it comes to energy consumption.”
Specifically, the EU Commission’s plan provides that all EU states voluntarily make all necessary efforts to reduce their gas consumption by at least 15 percent between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. The comparative value would be the average consumption in the same period of the past five years. In the event of a real gas emergency, it should also be possible to order a reduction in consumption. According to the EU Commission, inadequate preparation for a Russian delivery freeze could result in a slump in economic output by an average of 0.9 to 1.5 percent. “In the meantime, Russia is only partially supplying gas or not at all in twelve member states,” said von der Leyen of the DPA. “Therefore, Europe must be prepared for the worst case: a complete stop of gas supplies, sooner or later.” The faster you act, the more you save – and the safer you are.
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The Commission’s proposals are the subject of a special meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. Von der Leyen expressed confidence that they would find broad approval. It’s about creating a safety net for everyone so that you can make it safely through the next two winters.