Faced with drastic reductions in deliveries of Russian gas, which until last year ensured some 40% of gas imports from the EU, the Twenty-Seven approved a plan ensuring their energy security on 26 July. The agreement, which aims to reduce their gas consumption, comes into force on Tuesday 9 August.
“The goal of reducing gas demand is to achieve savings ahead of winter to prepare for possible disruptions in gas supply from Russia, which continually uses energy supply as a weapon », explains the Council of the EU in a press release. In total, the plan should save between 30 and 45 billion cubic meters of gas.
“Voluntary Reduction Measures”
The text provides that each Member State “make every effort” to reduce, between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, its gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the last five years over the same period, via “voluntary reduction measures”.
The implementation of the regulation therefore depends for the moment on the goodwill of the Member States, but the reduction target could become mandatory. If the 27 are not sufficiently determined and the gas shortage threatens, the European Council may, on a proposal from the Commission, trigger a state of alert. This mechanism will then make the 15% reduction mandatory.
Derogations
The system is also adapted to the realities of each and provides for a wide range of exceptions. An automatic derogation has been approved for the island states (Malta, Ireland and Cyprus), as well as a partial exemption for the Baltic countries connected to the Russian electricity network.
Member States which are not interconnected with the gas networks of other Member States are also exempted from mandatory gas reductions. A derogation also concerns those whose electricity networks are not synchronized with the European electricity system and which depend heavily on gas for the production of electricity, or even countries which are heavily dependent on gas as a raw material for critical industries.
The agreement will therefore apply on a case-by-case basis. France, due to its need for gas for its industrial uses but also for its efforts to export gas to Germany, could be affected by the derogations and be limited to a reduction of 7% instead of the theoretical 15% .