European Council formally adopts 15% gas demand reduction target

European Council formally adopts 15% gas demand reduction target


Ebba Busch, Swedish Minister for energy, business and industry

I am glad that the Council proceeded to swiftly adopting this regulation. Gas savings are crucial for the EU to reach its gas storage goals and be prepared ahead of next winter.

Ebba Busch, Swedish Minister for energy, business and industry

The new regulation sets a voluntary target for member states to reduce their natural gas consumption by 15% between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, compared to their average consumption in the period between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2022. Member states can choose the measures by which they want to reach the target.

Infographic – Gas demand reduction in the EU

The infographic shows data about the consumption of natural gas in the EU between 2017 and 2023. There was a drop by 19% during August 2022-January 2023.See full infographic

The new regulation modifies reporting rules for member states. Member states will keep reporting data on the savings achieved, at least every two months, with the possibility of submitting the reports earlier. If a Union alert was declared, they would report the data every month. Member states may, if they wish so, report the breakdown of energy consumption per sector.

The regulation includes a new provision to address a specific issue of an increased consumption of gas in a member state due to a coal-to-gas switch used for district heating, in determining the reference gas consumption.

The flexibilities foreseen for EU countries to meet the voluntary reduction target remain unchanged.

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