The Council of the European Union (EU) on Thursday adopted a regulation setting a “voluntary reduction target” for natural gas consumption of 15% as of April 1.
The new regulation sets a voluntary target for member states to reduce their natural gas consumption by 15% between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, compared to their average consumption between April 2017 and March 31, 2022, the Council said in a statement.
Member states will be able to choose the measures they use to achieve this target. However, the regulation maintains the possibility for the Council to trigger a “Union alert” on security of supply, in which case the reduction of gas demand would become mandatory.
In addition, the text modifies the reporting rules for member states, which will continue to report data on savings at least every two months, with the possibility of reporting earlier, the statement notes, noting that this regulation is “an exceptional and extraordinary measure valid for a limited period of time.” In the event of a Union alert, Member States must report data on a monthly basis. They can also, if they wish, report the breakdown of energy consumption by sector.
The EU Council had already adopted a regulation last August on a voluntary reduction of 15% of natural gas demand for the winter period, with the aim of “saving energy to prepare for possible gas supply disruptions.”
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