The EU’s emergency plan to reduce natural gas consumption took effect on Tuesday, August 9. It predicts that all EU countries will voluntarily reduce gas consumption by 15% from early August to March next year, compared to average consumption over the past five years during that period. The purpose of such a measure is to reduce the risks that could arise as a result of a complete interruption of gas supplies from Russia. In the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Gazprom has already drastically reduced the volume of supply of this raw material to European countries.

According to the European Commission, EU countries should save a total of 45 billion cubic meters of gas. Germany must cut its gas consumption by around 10 billion cubic meters to reach the 15% target.

If sufficient savings cannot be made amid widespread supply shortages, the next step could be to issue an EU-wide alert and impose mandatory targets to reduce gas consumption. This step requires the consent of at least 15 EU countries, representing at least 65% of the entire EU population.

At the same time, some EU countries such as Spain and Italy have obtained exemptions from the gas saving plan and aim to reduce consumption by less than 15%. The emergency plan will last for one year.