Next Wednesday the EU Commission will present a plan to deal with the possible cut off gas supplies from Russia. According to Brussels, in fact, with timely planning it is possible limit the impact by one third on the GDP of a sudden supply interruption.
The principle behind the plan is solidarity between member states, called to a "coordinated" action and a "cross-border cooperation", in order to "reduce the cascading effects across borders and the internal market of the EU".
The problem is that Hungary has already called itself out. Budapest has proclaimed a state of emergency, announcing that from August it will ban energy exports to guarantee the amount of gas needed for the winter.
Despite this defection, EU energy ministers will discuss the plan in their extraordinary council meeting on 26 July. In the draft of the Communication, anticipated by Corriere della Sera, the Commission explains that, “in the spirit of European solidarity and cooperation, we must guarantee gas flows to where it is needed most, protecting both our home users and our jobs and the economy as a whole.”
Brussels invites to a “coordinated saving of demand”, which “could limit the negative impact on GDP” in the face of the high risk of “a significant deterioration in the supply situation”, given that Gazprom has already made it known that it cannot guarantee the “safe operation” of the North gas pipeline Stream 1 after July 22, when the maintenance works should end.
Brussels' proposals to save gas
In practical terms, the Commission proposes the requirement for public buildings to limit heating to 19° and cooling to 25° and the introduction of auctions or tenders to encourage the reduction of consumption by large consumers (mostly industries, which would obtain compensation). Families, on the other hand, could be asked to lower the temperature in the house by one degree.
Brussels also suggests that industries agree contractual exchanges in advance of their production from a region exposed to outages to a less exposed region, to be activated in the event of an emergency.
The Commission then invites to prolong, when possible, the life of the coal and nuclear power plants and to temporarily ease environmental limits.
