The energy ministers of the European Union, meeting in Brussels, agreed on Tuesday to reduce their gas consumption in a coordinated way and thus fly to the aid of Germany, after the announcement of a new drastic drop in Russian deliveries.
“The European Union confirmed today (Tuesday) that it is united and united. We have taken a huge step forward to secure the supply of gas this winter,” said Czech Minister Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating EU Council Presidency.
“We will share the burden. The negotiations were not easy, but in the end everyone understood that this sacrifice was necessary,” he added during a press conference.
Hungary, however, on Tuesday denounced an “unjustifiable, unnecessary, unenforceable and harmful” agreement. Among the Twenty-Seven, only Budapest opposed the text, which is therefore adopted by qualified majority.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the adoption of the plan she presented last week. Although it has been extensively overhauled.
It still provides for each country to do “everything possible” to reduce, between August 2022 and March 2023, its gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the last five years over the same period. Russia accounted for some 40% of EU gas imports until last year.
In the event of a “risk of serious shortage”, an alert mechanism will make the 15% reduction “binding” for the Twenty-Seven, but this objective will be adapted to the realities of each country, in particular to the capacities to export the quantities of gas saved to countries in need, thanks to a series of derogations.
Replenish inventory
“This collective commitment is very significant and will help us to rebuild stocks before winter,” said Ms. von der Leyen.
The Russian giant Gazprom announced on Monday that it would halve its daily deliveries to Europe on Wednesday via the Nord Stream gas pipeline, thus falling to only 20% of its capacity, citing a maintenance operation on a turbine.
A Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday that the reduction in speed was due to Western sanctions taken against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. “If it hadn’t been for these restrictions, everything would have been accomplished […] within the usual timelines, without leading to the situation we see today,” he said.
But the Europeans refute the technical reason and accuse Moscow of using gas as an economic weapon.
The fighting continued Tuesday in Ukraine, where the southern regions were the subject of “massive” Russian bombardments, in particular on a seaside village near Odessa and on the port of Mykolaiv, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
“We will of course retaliate to this, regardless of the lies of the Russian Ministry of Defense on these strikes”, assured in his evening message the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He also denounced “a new induced increase in gas prices” targeting Europeans. “It is clear to everyone that this is deliberate price terror by Russia against Europe,” he added.
“By using Gazprom, Moscow is doing everything to make this winter the hardest for European countries. We must respond to terror, respond with sanctions,” said Mr. Zelensky.
Save European industry
At the heart of the European system, the mandatory 15% reduction in consumption had aroused criticism.
It aims to pool the effort in the event of an emergency, in particular to help Germany, which, very dependent on Russian gas, was still buying 35% of its gas in Russia at the beginning of June – against 55% before the war.
However, a major shock on the first European economy would inevitably have repercussions on the whole of the EU.
The 15% reduction in gas consumption in fact imposes constraints on countries such as France and Spain, which are nevertheless sheltered from a disruption in Russian supplies thanks to their energy policies.
But the effort will remain greater for Germany. It will have to “do better” than 15%, recognized its Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck, while welcoming European solidarity. Berlin “made a strategic mistake in the past” by cultivating this dependence on Moscow, he admitted.
The plan had in recent days been the subject of strong criticism from several states. Among the most virulent, those of Southern Europe, including Spain, where the memory of the painful austerity plans imposed by Berlin after the financial crisis of 2008 is still vivid.
The Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, had deemed the project “unfair” and “inefficient”.
The diplomats of the 27 heeded the grievances. It will ultimately be the Council of the EU, representing the Member States, and not the Commission, as the latter requested, which will trigger the binding mechanism.
The agreement provides exemptions for island states (Cyprus, Ireland, Malta), which are not interconnected to the gas networks of other countries, or for those which have exceeded their targets for filling gas tanks. It also reduces the savings target for countries whose interconnections are limited or which need gas for certain “critical industries”.
From Yaoundé, Cameroon, where he was on a visit, French President Emmanuel Macron for his part denounced Tuesday “the hypocrisy” heard “especially on the African continent” consisting in not clearly recognizing “a unilateral aggression” of the Russia against Ukraine, as the European Union does.