EU countries have pledged to reduce gas consumption by 15%. Member countries today reached a political agreement to voluntarily reduce natural gas consumption by 15% by winter.

It also provides for the possibility of triggering an EU alert on the security of supply, in which case the reduction in gas consumption will become mandatory.

The goal is to save gas ahead of winter in order to prepare for possible disruptions in gas supplies from Russia.

Member States have agreed to reduce gas consumption by 15% compared to the average consumption over the past five years, between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023, through measures of their choice.

While all EU countries will make every effort to meet these targets, there are some exceptions and opportunities to request derogations from the mandatory reduction target to reflect the specific situations of Member States and ensure the effectiveness of gas consumption reductions.

The Council of the EU has agreed that Member States not connected to the gas networks of other Member States are exempt from mandatory gas cuts as they will not be able to release significant volumes of pipeline gas to other Member States. Member states whose electricity grids are out of sync with the European electricity system and rely heavily on gas for electricity generation are also exempt to avoid the risk of an electricity supply crisis.

Member States may request an exemption to adapt their demand reduction obligations if they have limited connections to other Member States and they can show that their export capacity or their domestic LNG infrastructure is being used to divert gas to other Member States in full measure.

The EU members can also request an exemption if they have exceeded their gas storage capacity fill targets, if they are heavily dependent on gas as a feedstock for critical industries, or if their gas consumption increased by at least 8% last year compared to the average indicator of the last five years.

When choosing measures to reduce demand, Member States agreed that they should prioritize measures that do not affect protected customers such as households and essential services for the functioning of society such as critical facilities, health care and defense. Possible measures include reducing gas consumption in the electricity sector, measures to encourage fuel switching in industry, national awareness campaigns, targeted commitments to reduce heating and cooling costs.

States will update their national contingency plans outlining the demand reduction measures they are planning and report regularly to the Commission on the progress of their plans.

The Decree is an exceptional and extraordinary measure provided for a limited period. It will therefore apply for one year and the Commission will conduct a review to consider extending it in the light of the overall EU gas supply situation by May 2023.

The text agreed today will be formally adopted through a written procedure. The written procedure will be launched and completed in the coming days after the technical changes to the text.