EU member states have agreed to ration gas this winter, in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis caused by further supply cuts in Russia.
Energy ministers from the 27 member states overwhelmingly backed a plan for a voluntary 15% reduction in gas consumption during the winter, but added several exemptions for island nations and countries that are not or only slightly connected to the grid of European gas, which will reduce the overall effect.
The European Commission had suggested that a collective gas saving target of 15% would reduce gas consumption by 45 billion cubic meters. Once exemptions are taken into account, the final tally will be lower, following a revolt led by southern European countries that use less or no Russian gas. A senior EU diplomat said the plan would fall short of the estimated 45 billion cubic meters in the event of a major supply crisis, but would still involve “significant reductions”.
The deal comes less than 24 hours after Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom announced a sharp cut in gas supplies through the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline starting Wednesday. It came just days after for Nord Stream 1 to be back online at reduced capacity, after summer maintenance.
EU leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to blackmail European countries into supporting Ukraine. Russia has cut or reduced supplies to a dozen EU countries.
Welcoming the rationing deal, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said: “Gazprom’s announcement to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe via Nord Stream 1, for no technical reason justified, it further illustrates the unreliable nature of Russia as an energy supplier. Thanks to today’s decision, we are now ready to address our energy security on a European scale, as a Union.”
Jozef Síkela, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, who chaired the meeting after days of negotiations on the proposal, hailed the decision as a sign that EU member states “will stand firm against any Russian attempt to divide the EU using energy supply as a weapon”.
“I know that the decision was not easy, but I think that in the end everyone understands that this sacrifice was necessary. We have to do it and we will share the pain,” he told reporters. He said the decision meant Europe could avoid “dramatic consequences in the winter,” including price rises.
But support for the energy saving plan was not unanimous. Hungary, which has already secured an exemption from the EU embargo on Russian oil, was the only one to express its opposition. Unusually for a meeting of EU energy ministers, Hungary was represented by its foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, who Putin presented with an award last November, just months before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Hungary has backed EU sanctions against Russia but blamed the measures for raising prices for Hungarian drivers and households, a link strongly rejected by Brussels.
According to the energy saving plan, all EU member states will strive to reduce gas consumption by 15% from August to the end of March. In the event of a total shutdown of Russian gas or high demand, EU states can declare an energy emergency that triggers mandatory savings. Member states rejected the European Commission’s attempt to decide when there was an energy emergency, which would trigger mandatory energy rationing.
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Countries will be exempt from the mandatory cuts if they are island nations not connected to the EU gas grid, such as Ireland and Malta.
The Baltic states can also apply for an exemption because their electricity systems are linked to Russia, making them vulnerable to blackouts in the event of a Kremlin-ordered blackout. The exemption is designed to protect the three former Soviet countries if they are forced to rely on gas to boost electricity supplies.
Member states can also ask for an exemption or a reduced savings target if they are poorly connected to the European gas network and can send liquefied natural gas to their neighbors, a provision that affects Spain.
Spain, along with Portugal and Greece, led the opposition to the uniform 15% target, arguing that it was unfair and did not take into account their national circumstances.
Arriving at the meeting in Brussels, Spain’s ecological transition minister, Teresa Ribera, said no one questioned the need for solidarity but that the initial proposal “was not necessarily the most effective approach”. His rejection of the proposal last week ignited memories of the eurozone crisis, when southern European member states faced restrictions from Germany to fall into debt.
Turning the debate to the eurozone, Ribera said Spain had “done its homework” by investing in infrastructure to increase supplies of liquefied natural gas, comments that were widely seen as an implicit criticism of Berlin’s decades-long reliance on gas cheap russian
Critics complained that the plans were designed to help Germany, which has been accused of becoming dangerously dependent on Russian gas.
“Germany made a strategic mistake in the past with its heavy reliance on Russian gas and the belief that it would always flow steadily and cheaply,” said Germany’s energy vice chancellor Robert Habeck. “But it’s not just a German problem.”
France’s energy transition minister, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, has said that the health of the entire European economy is at stake: “Our industrial chains are totally interdependent: if the chemical industry in Germany coughs, the entire European industry could stop “