In order to fill the storage tanks for next winter, the EU countries want to continue to save large amounts of gas. The energy ministers of the member states agreed in Brussels to extend the gas emergency plan, which expires this week, by one year. According to this, the EU states should continue to voluntarily keep their gas consumption 15 percent below the average consumption for the period from April 2017 to March 2022.

The emergency plan came into force in August against the background of a possible stop in Russian gas supplies and was originally intended to apply until the end of March. Last week, the EU Commission proposed a one-year extension. The authority justified this by saying that it would be easier to fill the gas storage tanks up to 90 percent by November, as planned. According to information from the EU Commission, demand for gas in the EU from August to January was more than 19 percent below the comparable periods of the previous five years.

"The significant reductions in gas consumption helped ensure security of supply last winter and stabilized energy prices," said Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Franziska Brantner (Greens). The aim is for this to be the case next winter as well.