London, Europe Brief News- The European Union (EU) countries decided to cut electricity use by 5% during peak hours under proposals to stave off a looming winter energy crisis.
The draft EU plan seen by Politico and Reuters – which also includes windfall taxes on energy firms – is designed to temper soaring energy costs that are also stoking inflation, and ensure member states have enough fuel to see it through the colder months.
The 27-nation group has accused Moscow of weaponising gas by slashing supplies in response to sanctions the bloc – along with allies – imposed at the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
“Never before has this Parliament debated the State of our Union with war raging on European soil,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
EU countries have already agreed to cut gas use by 15%, and gas storage is now 84% full, exceeding the EU’s pre-winter filling target.
But analysts say Europe will still need to slash gas use over winter to avoid storage facilities running dry.
Among the package of measures to ease the impact of soaring inflation is a windfall levy to claw back what the European Commission described as “unexpected profits” from Europe’s non-gas fuelled power plants, linked to soaring oil and gas prices stoked by Russia’s slashing of supplies.
