Portugal is totally opposed to an EU proposal for member states to cut gas usage until March, because it would "hamper electricity production through gas-fired plants when the country faces an extreme drought", Energy Secretary João Galamba said yesterday.
The European Union told member states on Wednesday to cut gas usage by 15% until March as an emergency step after President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian supplies sent via the biggest pipeline to Europe could be reduced further and might even stop.
A group of European Union countries, mainly from the south, has already shot down Brussels' bid to grant itself the power to ration gas around the bloc less than 24 hours after the debut of the proposal Wednesday.
“We are completely against it,” said Portuguese Secretary of State for Energy and Environment João Galamba.
The emergency measure — widely perceived as being designed to save Berlin should its gas link to Russia, the Nord Stream pipeline, stop operating — would allow the EU executive to impose a mandatory 15 percent cut in gas consumption from August to May. Such action could be "triggered at any moment," should scarce supplies make sharing necessary among EU neighbours.
But along with Portugal, ministers in Poland, Spain, Cyprus and Greece have already emphatically said "no" to the proposed power grab and binding gas consumption reductions, while three EU diplomats confirmed there are currently not enough votes to pass the new rules. Approval requires a qualified majority — 15 countries representing 65 percent of the bloc's population. Individual vetoes are not allowed under the controversial emergency procedure.
EU energy ministers are set to discuss the proposal and looming winter gas crisis when they meet next Tuesday, but by that point, the Commission's proposal could already be a lost cause.
Source https://www.politico.eu/
