The energy ministers of the European Union (EU) have closed a political agreement on Tuesday on the plan to reduce gas consumption with a view to winter, in the face of the threat of a total cut of supply by Russia. The pact, which sets a 15% reduction in gas demand, includes exceptions for Spain.
"It has not been an impossible mission. The ministers have reached a political agreement on the reduction of gas demand, with a view to next winter," reported the presidency of the Council of the EU, in the hands of the Czech Republic this semester.
The Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has confirmed that Spain will reduce gas consumption by 7% and 8% on a voluntary basis.
"Support at all levels is going to be essential to be able to achieve energy savings of around 7% or 8% of our gas consumption," the vice-president stated regarding the agreement, which is also extendable to Portugal.
The energy saving plan agreed this Tuesday sets a reduction in the demand for gas from the member states of 15% compared to their average consumption in the last five years between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, with measurements of your choice. Of course, it marks certain exceptions for various states of the union.
In particular, the 27 have agreed that those EU countries that have a low interconnection with other Member States and can demonstrate that their export capacity through interconnection or through liquefied natural gas terminals can be used to redirect gas consumption to other Member States.
In addition, Member States that are not interconnected to the gas network of other EU countries may benefit from these exceptions, since their reduction in consumption could not contribute to the supply of the countries that need it. A scenario in which Malta or Ireland would be framed.
The list of exemptions for EU countries also includes those Member States whose electricity distribution network is not synchronized with the European one, as is the case of the Baltic countries, still connected to Russia, or those that are still highly dependent on gas for electricity production,
Finally, countries that have exceeded their gas storage targets, whose critical industries depend on gas as a raw material and whose consumption has increased by at least 8% in the last year compared to the average of the previous five years will be able to request exceptions.
In addition, the agreement of the 27 establishes that the Member States will be responsible for activating the state of "alert" in the EU, which would make it mandatory to reduce gas consumption.
Spain was one of the countries that from the outset had expressed its reluctance to implement this measure in a unitary way among all the countries. A refusal that over time has been nuanced to accept savings, but in a figure less than 15% proposed by the European authorities.
The political agreement did not require unanimity of the 27, but the support of a qualified majority. That is, of 15 countries that add up to 65% of the population. However, it has been approved with the only opposition of Hungary.
