France said on Monday that it opposes a uniform target to reduce gas consumption in Europe, after the European Commission’s proposal for a 15% cut, while saying it wants to show full solidarity with Germany.

France is looking for an agreement “that establishes the principle of a coordinated reduction in gas consumption but that at the same time takes into account the specific situations of each member state and in particular our capacity to export gas,” he said.

“Do your best”

France is well supplied with gas because it depends little on Russia unlike Germany. If the country voluntarily reduces its consumption, it will therefore release volumes of gas that it can export to its neighbors in need, but this export capacity is limited by the size of the existing gas pipelines, and the French government considers that it physically cannot export 15% of its gas to Germany.

The Brussels plan – which still needs to be validated by the Member States – provides that each country will have to “do everything possible” to reduce, between August 2022 and March 2023, its gas consumption by at least 15% compared to to the average of the last five years in the same period.

In case of “risk of serious shortage”, Brussels would like to be able to activate an alert mechanism – after consulting the States – that would make the 15% reduction “binding” for the Twenty-seven.

These principles, which must be debated in an extraordinary council of European ministers responsible for energy in Brussels, are opposed by several countries (Spain, Greece, Portugal, etc.).

technical limits

However, France insists on the imperative of “solidarity” with Germany in particular – heavily dependent on Russian gas – noting in passing that the two economies are closely intertwined.

But we also note that a voluntary reduction in gas consumption in order to help Germany will only make sense to the extent that this gas can actually be exported.

However, the interconnection capabilities between France and Germany “are physically and technically limited,” argues the French minister’s entourage.

Paris also wants the alert mechanism that leads to a mandatory reduction in consumption to be subject to the approval of the States: “On such an important issue”, “it is important that the Member States give their opinion”.