Brussels, March 10. The institutions of the European Union reached an agreement on Friday to reduce energy consumption in 2030, as part of its strategy to combat climate change and reduce the community club’s dependence on third countries.
Concretely, the EU will have to reduce its energy consumption by 11.7% in 2030, compared to the forecasts made for that year in 2020.
To achieve this objective, each country will have to commit to gradually reducing its consumption in the years to come, until it reaches 1.9% savings in 2030.
The objective for each country will however only be indicative, since the only legally binding objective will be that which the Twenty-Seven will have to achieve as a whole.
In this regard, Member States should encourage energy-intensive companies to be more efficient and ensure that the heating and cooling supply of municipalities with more than 45,000 inhabitants is completely decarbonized by 2050. .
According to the pact – which has yet to be formally approved – countries will have to address energy poverty when designing their policies.
“Saving energy is a key step in saving the planet. In recent months, Europeans have shown that they are ready and able to take up this challenge,” said European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans.
In parallel, the European Commission wants to extend the emergency agreement concluded in the heat of the Russian invasion of Ukraine so that the Member States voluntarily reduce their gas consumption by 15%.
“It has worked well and is the best guarantee of reaching an adequate level of storage by November,” EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Thursday, adding that over the months that the EU implemented, it saved 19% of gas.