The European Council officially adopts the target of reducing gas demand by 15%.

The European Council officially adopts the target of reducing gas demand by 15%.

BRUSSELS On March 30, the European Council in Brussels adopted a regulation extending member states’ voluntary target to cut gas demand by 15% for one year. The regulation maintains the possibility for the Council to trigger a “Union Alert” on security of supply, in which case a reduction in gas demand would become mandatory.

The new regulation sets a voluntary target for member states to reduce their consumption of natural gas by 15% between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, compared to their average consumption between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2022. Member states can choose the measures by which they want to reach the target. .

The new regulation amends the reporting rules for member states. Member States will continue to report savings data, at least every two months, with early reporting possible. If a union alert is announced, they will report the data every month. Member States may, if they wish, report the distribution of energy consumption for each sector.

The regulation also includes a new provision to address a specific issue related to the increase in gas consumption in a member state due to the switch from coal to gas used in district heating, in determining the reference consumption of gas.

The expected flexibilities for EU countries to achieve the voluntary reduction target remain unchanged.

The European Commission made a proposal on March 20, 2023, under Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, anticipating states of emergency. The Council reached a political agreement on the proposal on March 28, 2023. The regulation was adopted through a written procedure. It will now be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force on April 1, 2023. The European Council stated that the new regulation is an exceptional and exceptional measure valid for a limited period.