“This was not a Mission Impossible! Ministers have reached a political agreement on gas demand reduction ahead of the upcoming winter," according to a tweet, Sputnik reported.
This followed the German news agency 'DPA' citing unnamed sources as saying that the EU’s member states have agreed on an emergency plan to voluntarily reduce gas consumption as a way to reduce dependence on Russian fuel and be prepared for a scenario where imports stop.
The sources claimed that the blueprint, in particular, stipulates a voluntary 15%-cut in the consumption of natural gas consumption between August 2022 and March 2023.
The decision come after the European Commission proposed last week a new regulation on coordinated reduction of gas use across the EU as a way to decrease the bloc’s dependence on imports and withstand the spike in prices.
This development come amid the ongoing fuel crisis in Europe, which erupted after Brussels slapped a spate of sanctions on Russia, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. This has resulted in disruptions of supply chains and skyrocketing energy prices across EU countries.
ZZ/PR