The Spanish Government said that it was opposed this Wednesday to the reduction in gas consumption of at least 15% desired by Brussels for all the Member States of the European Union, considering that this measure is not necessarily “fair” or “effective” .

“Spain does not support this proposal,” said the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, at a press conference, regretting that this measure has not been the subject of a prior debate. “We will oppose the imposition of obligations that are above, in terms of effort, what corresponds to us,” she assured.

Possible “binding targets”

The European Commission on Wednesday called on the EU-27 to voluntarily reduce their gas demand over the next eight months, revealing an arsenal of measures that will purportedly allow the EU to deal with a potential Russian supply disruption. This plan, which will be discussed on July 26 at a European Council, specifically provides that each country does “everything possible” to reduce its gas consumption by at least 15% between August 2022 and March 2023 compared to the average of the last five years.

In the event of “substantial risk of severe shortages or exceptionally high demand”, and if voluntary efforts are not sufficient, an alert mechanism could also be activated, after consultation with States, to set “binding targets”, which would make this target of the 15% on “binding”.

For Teresa Ribera, this measure is not necessarily the most effective, the most efficient or the fairest”. “Spanish families will not suffer gas or electricity cuts in their homes” and “Spain will defend the position of Spanish industry”, she promised However, the Spanish minister wanted to show her solidarity with the rest of the EU members: “We know that many European partners are going through a difficult time and we see autumn and winter with great concern. We want to help, putting all our infrastructure” at the service of the EU, he concluded.