European countries reached an agreement on Tuesday to curb their consumption of natural gas for the next eight months in an effort to protect their economies from a possible Russian supply cut.
The deal calls on countries to voluntarily cut their gas use by 15% from next month, matching the level proposed by the European Union’s executive arm last week, and says the target could be binding in case of emergency But it contains important structures for countries with limited connections to other European gas networks and those whose electricity networks are not linked to the European system.