EU Nations Reach Agreement to Reduce Gas Use for Next Winter

European Union countries reached a political agreement to cut their gas use by 15% through next winter as the prospect of a full cut-off from Russian supplies grows increasingly likely.

Energy ministers meeting in Brussels gave the green light to a proposal to voluntarily cut their gas usage over the next months, the Czech presidency of the EU said in a post on Twitter. The plan makes the 15% target mandatory under an emergency situation -- such as a severe disruption to flows from Russia -- albeit with certain opt-outs for particularly vulnerable nations or those integral to the bloc’s network as a whole.

Hungary was the only country that voted against the rules, Luxembourg’s energy minister Claude Turmes tweeted.