BRUSSELS — EU countries on Monday agreed to reduce their gas consumption for an extra year, according to four EU diplomats, extending a measure first imposed at the height of the bloc’s energy crisis.
The emergency rule — which asks EU capitals to reduce their consumption by 15 percent — was agreed to in 2022, when the bloc saw record gas prices after Russia throttled its supplies over Europe’s support for Ukraine.
Still, the newly approved measure will be less strict than in previous versions as it removes a provision obliging EU countries to reduce their gas demand in a supply crisis. The savings will now be entirely voluntary.
The EU has saved over 100 billion cubic meters of gas since the measure was introduced, according to the European Commission, and it has reduced its demand by around 18 percent compared to countries’ average consumption between 2017 and 2022.
