EU draft gas emergency plan seeps through - Von der Leyen wants to enforce savings
Created: 2022-07-20 05:24
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
Ursula von der Leyen © IMAGO/Dwi Anoraganingrum
The gas crisis is looming in Europe.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to counteract this with mandatory savings.
Munich - In the background of the Ukraine war, Europe's energy dependency on Russia plays Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin right into the cards.
Gas supplies became a weapon and leverage in his hands.
In the midst of this delicate situation, the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 was stopped a few days ago for maintenance work.
However, many fear that the Kremlin will not turn on the gas supply to Europe again after the maintenance work.
Should Moscow decide to take such a step, European countries would plunge into a severe gas crisis.
In order to counteract this and to be prepared, the EU Commission, led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, now wants to implement an emergency plan.
Gas is to be saved with mandatory reductions.
The goal: Guaranteeing security of supply.
The corresponding draft has been leaked.
Gas crisis: Von der Leyen plan seeps through - EU Commission could set savings targets
According to the
Welt
newspaper, citing the details of the draft, EU states should be forced to save gas if necessary.
If this is not the case for both households and companies, the EU should, according to the draft, set binding savings targets that the government of the respective country must meet.
In a first step, the draft provides for a voluntary reduction in gas consumption.
However, should the Commission determine that the reduction targets are not being met or that the supply situation has deteriorated dramatically, the EU wants to dictate that the member states themselves save gas.
The amount should also be determined by the EU.
This process is intended to “establish a process to declare an EU alert level at any time over the coming weeks or months if the situation and outlook change negatively, if the balance between supply and demand is at stake and if the situation is likely to lead to emergencies ", quoted the
world
from the draft of the European Commission.
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Gas crisis: 5 to 15 percent mandatory savings possible - EU Commission wants to take action
In the event of an emergency, the Commission could “activate a mandatory reduction of (x%) to ensure the EU-wide reductions needed for a safe winter for everyone,” the draft continues.
However, how high the savings should be is still a mystery.
The
world
spoke of 5 to 15 percent, citing commission circles.
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Another point of conflict is apparently the question of competence, because the draft suddenly gives the Commission completely new competences.
In order to create the legal basis for this, von der Leyen and Vice President Frans Timmermans, who is responsible for climate issues, want to hurry up.
They want to get the approval in an abbreviated, fast-track procedure.
However, the dreaded emergency could still be averted.
Apparently, Russia wants to supply gas to Germany again - albeit less than before.
(bb)