London-Sana
The European plan to reduce gas consumption by 15 percent entered into force today, amid the escalating energy price crisis in the old continent.
The British newspaper The Independent reported that the 27-country European bloc began implementing the plan to reduce gas consumption that was agreed upon two weeks ago in an attempt to boost gas reserves before a winter that is expected to be very difficult for Europeans who are holding their breath with the exacerbation of the price crisis and the decline in energy supplies from Russia. .
According to the plan, the European Union countries will try to reduce gas consumption by at least 15 percent between August this year and March next year, based on the average quantity they have consumed over the past five years.
The newspaper pointed out that some European Union countries have been exempted from having to strictly follow this rule, which is called a “voluntary reduction in demand.” These countries are either not fully connected to the European electricity grid or to pipelines with other parts of the European Union, or they are unable to Providing enough gas to reach it through pipelines to help other member states.
With the increasing pressure felt by Europeans as a result of the sanctions they imposed on Russia under the pretext of its own operation in Ukraine, the American Wall Street Journal considered that the coming months will likely witness a competition between Europe and Asia over Russian liquefied gas, stressing that the energy war in Europe will lead to high prices and create social unrest. .
The newspaper pointed out that the situation in the European Union will worsen with the approach of winter, considering that "the second front in the battle for Ukraine has opened, which is the energy war in Europe."
The newspaper pointed out that the rise in energy prices will bring difficulties to the European economy, which will create social turmoil and this in turn will bring to power populist parties that will change the political elites in Europe and thus dismantle the Western alliance.
In this context, the newspaper pointed out that a right-wing party withdrew from the ruling coalition in Italy last month, noting that “the choice faced by Italian families to pay the electricity bill or buy food is terrible, and this is what prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who traveled last June to Kyiv to confirm Italy’s support.” for Ukraine.”
The newspaper expected that the deterioration of the Europeans' standard of living would affect their insistence on supporting Ukraine, noting the possibility that populist party governments would come to power in the European Union, which would destroy the Western alliance.
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