The EU countries must immediately - as early as August 1 - reduce the consumption of natural gas by 15% (equivalent to 45 billion cubic meters per year). This saving regime will continue throughout the heating season until March 31, 2023. In a particularly acute crisis, the European Commission can declare an alert at the EU level, imposing a mandatory contraction of the gas used by all 27 member countries.

These are part of the European Commission's proposals in the European plan to reduce gas demand presented today. If approved by the countries, it would help build up gas reserves before winter arrives, as well as manage a gas crisis if Vladimir Putin decides to continue with severely limited supplies or cut them off altogether. The message from Brussels directly states that the Kremlin is using the export of natural gas as a weapon and almost half of the EU countries are already affected.

Immediate action will reduce by at least a third the negative effect on GDP by avoiding unplanned actions in a future critical situation, think in Brussels.

"We know that today is the 147th day of the war against Ukraine, but months earlier Russia started cutting supplies to Europe. Today 20 of the countries are affected to varying degrees by suspended supplies. Russia is blackmailing us, using energy as a weapon and Europe must be ready for a total gas shutdown," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a briefing.

This is a legislative act of the Commission, which defines measures, principles and criteria for a coordinated reduction of consumption. Part of them is the determination of a specific goal for each country by how much and how to reduce consumption by 15% during eight months and guidelines for the development of the corresponding national plans. It is about focusing on replacing natural gas with other fuels and overall energy conservation in all sectors.

• "Our aim is to protect supplies to households and the most important users such as hospitals, key industries of basic goods and services, EU supply chains and competitiveness," it said.
• "All consumers, public administrations, households, owners of public buildings, energy suppliers and manufacturers can and should take measures to save gas."

The new regulation proposed by the European Commission refers to a specific text (Article 122) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU concerning the single market:

"Without prejudice to the other procedures provided for in the Treaties, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may decide, in a spirit of solidarity between the Member States, on measures appropriate to the economic situation, and in particular if serious difficulties arise in the supply of certain products, namely in the field of energy.

Where a Member State is experiencing difficulties or is seriously threatened by severe difficulties caused by natural disasters or extraordinary circumstances beyond its control, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may grant, under certain conditions, financial assistance from the Union to the Member State concerned". The President of the Council informed the European Parliament about the decision taken.

What is a “Union-wide Alert” and how is it triggered?

On the same basis, it is proposed that the European Commission be empowered to declare (after consultation with the Member States) a "Union-wide Alert" regarding gas supplies. It will impose mandatory redundancies for all countries:

• it is triggered when there is a significant risk of acute shortages in gas storage or extremely high demand for gas
• by September 2022, countries must update their energy emergency plans to show how they intend to meet the reduced consumption target
• every two months, national reports must be sent to the European Commission on how far the process has progressed
• Member States seeking gas supply assistance under European solidarity must demonstrate exactly what they have done to reduce domestic demand.

Member countries can stimulate energy saving in production with auctions or a trading system for energy supplies.

A temporary crisis framework for state aid approved by the Commission today allows governments to offer compensation.

The European Commission is also accelerating the work on diversifying supplies, including joint gas purchases. Today, Ursula von der Leyen stated that this category of supply has already been increased by a third.

Any amount of natural gas saved this summer is energy stored to be available in the winter, the European Commission urges. Today's proposal is the result of consultations with member countries and businesses and targets anticipatory measures to reduce damage.

How to determine what is important

The text acknowledges that priority should - where possible - be given to switching to renewable or cleaner sources, "but coal, oil and nuclear power may need to be switched on for some time, thus avoiding long-term returns to this type of energy”.

• Publicly important - sectors including healthcare, food, safety, security, refineries and defense, as well as the provision of environmental services;

• Cross-border supply chains - sectors or industries providing goods and services critical to the smooth functioning of EU supply chains;

• Damage to installations - to avoid a situation where they cannot resume production without significant delays, repairs, regulatory approval and costs;

• Gas reduction and product/component substitution opportunities - the extent to which industries can switch to imported components/products and the extent to which demand for products or components can be met through imports.

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