European Union countries meet – under pressure to reach a gas agreement

The emergency meeting is being held in Brussels to try to reach an agreement that would strengthen Europe’s energy readiness for winter.

– Gazprom’s announcement yesterday confirms once again that we must be ready to cut off supplies to Russia at any time. To be ready, we must act now, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson says on his way to the conference room.

She stressed that consumption should be reduced as a precaution and continued underground gas storage in Europe, which now stands at 66 per cent.

Awaiting agreement

EU countries do not agree on how to cut gas consumption, and even if they should. The Commission submitted its proposal, which means that consumption should be reduced by 15 percent from August to May.

– I expect that today we will have interesting political discussions, because the Member States have different conditions and starting points. But I expect that at the end of the day we will have a political deal, says Qadri Simpson.

According to the residents, the risk is that you will end up in a watered down agreement. Hungary, on the contrary, announced that it wanted to buy more Russian gas.

Stripper Nordstream

Russia announced on Monday that the state-owned gas company Gazprom will reduce flow through the Nordstream 1 pipeline. The reason is said to be technical problems with the turbines.

There is no technical reason to do this, it is a political decision, says Simpson.

Gazprom not only hinted at Nordstream, but increased pressure overnight in the Urengoy-Pomarie-Uzhgorod pipeline, the Ukrainian gas operator warned. According to the company, this can cause damage to the line.

The meeting was also attended by the Ukrainian Energy Minister.

Swedish Energy Minister Khashyar Fermanbar confirmed on Monday that he believes in an agreement between European Union countries.

On his way to the meeting, he says Europe must reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels and natural gas.

– This is the way forward for Europe. It’s an important part of increasing our safety and increasing the reliability of our energy production. Farmanbar says it’s an important step.