The EU Energy Ministers agreed on Monday to extend, until March 2025, measures to voluntarily reduce gas consumption, DPA reports.
The countries of the EU bloc set a voluntary target in 2022 of reducing their gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the past five years – one of the many measures adopted after Russia significantly reduced gas supplies to Europe, which caused supply problems and led to record price increases, according to Agerpres.
Belgian Energy Minister, Tinne van der Straeten said “the EU bloc has made significant progress since 2022”, the peak period of the energy crisis.
The EU objective regarding the reduction of gas consumption was exceeded, the demand decreased by more than 19% on average at the EU level.
“The measures to reduce gas consumption will be carried out voluntarily, as the supply situation in the EU has improved significantly since 2022”, according to a press release from the EU Council.
And the European Commission last month asked member states to maintain the policy of reducing gas consumption, but softened it, announcing that it would be entirely voluntary, a sign of optimism that Europe’s worst energy crisis is over.
In February, the European Commission recommended that member states continue to reduce gas use by 15% compared to average consumption from 2017 to 2022. However, the obligation, established in 2022, to reduce by 15% in the event of a supply crisis was removed .
EU diplomats told Reuters that some countries believe the policy is no longer necessary after the peak of Europe’s energy crisis has passed and European countries have reduced their gas demand since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The EU bloc’s gas supply situation has improved significantly, with countries replacing Russian gas with renewable energy sources and gas from other suppliers. But the difficult situation on the world gas markets and the EU’s goal of completely renouncing fossil fuels in Russia show that saving energy is still necessary, the European Commission stated.
The price of gas in Europe fell last month close to the lowest level in the last three years. The mild winter has meant that EU countries have gas storages approximately 64% full, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.
From August 2022, when prices were at a record high level, EU gas consumption fell by 18% until December 2023, when prices were at a normal level, the Community Executive informed.
“The reduction in gas demand was not determined by the objective set at the EU level. There were several reasons: the reduction of industrial activity, the mild winter and the increase in generation from renewable energy sources,” explained Simone Tagliapietra, from the think-tank Bruegel.