The objective of voluntarily reducing gas consumption in the European Union (EU) by 15% comes into force this Tuesday, until the spring of 2023, with the aim of increasing storage in the Member States and creating a “cushion” before a possible interruption of supply. Russian.
The entry into force of the regulation, published this Monday in the Official Journal of the EU, occurs after the political agreement reached at the end of July in Brussels, when the 27 reached a compromise on the proposal presented by the European Commission with a view to 15% reduction in gas consumption between the current month of August and March 31, 2023, but with new exceptions to cover the geographical or physical situation of the countries.
The compromise was formally adopted by the EU Council last Friday, by a qualified majority, with Hungary and Poland voting against it.
Therefore, it is expected that, to increase the security of the EU’s energy supply this winter, a voluntary reduction in natural gas consumption of the order of 15% will take place, starting this Tuesday, an objective that may still differ between countries. , as exemptions and exceptions have been introduced to take into account the particular situations of Member States.
With the regulations already in force, the possibility of triggering a “union alertin the face of scarcity, a scenario in which the decrease in gas demand would become mandatory.
Portugal, for example, “is among the countries that may, due to weak interconnections, see its objective reduced by eight percentage points with respect to the initially defined objective, if a gas reduction obligation is created,” reported the Minister of the Environment. Ambient. Duarte Cordeiro.
In addition, Portugal “can deduce a set of circumstances” in which it also finds itself, “such as the production of electricity in the security of the system or the need to use gas as a raw material in essential industries or sectors,” he added. the minister, in statements made after the political agreement in the EU a week ago.
In mid-July, the European Commission proposed a target of reducing the EU’s gas consumption by 15% for the spring, admitting a mandatory drop in demand in an alert situation.
The objective is that, by March 31, 2023, the Member States reduce their consumption of natural gas by 15% (with respect to the historical average in that period, considering the years 2017 to 2021), in order to increase the European storage level and create a security “cushion” for emergency situations.
Geopolitical tensions due to the war in Ukraine have affected the European energy market, as the EU imports 90% of the gas it consumes, with Russia responsible for around 45% of these imports, at varying levels between member states. In Portugal, in 2021, Russian gas represented less than 10% of the total imported.
Source: Observadora
