The European Union decides to implement a plan to reduce gas consumption by 15%

The European Union on Tuesday began implementing a plan to reduce gas consumption across the continent by 15 percent to deal with the energy price crisis, and reduce gas supplies from Russia.

A European plan to reduce gas consumption across the continent by 15 percent, to deal with the energy price crisis sparked by the Russian war on Ukraine, will enter into force on Tuesday.

The decree linked to a plan agreed upon by the 27-country bloc two weeks ago was published on Monday in the official European Union administrative newspaper, to be implemented on Tuesday.

"Given the imminent threat to the security of gas supplies caused by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, this law must be brought into force urgently," the text said.

The goal is for the European Union to be able to boost its gas reserves before a winter that is expected to be very difficult. Soaring energy prices and declining supplies of Russian gas, on which several member states depend, are putting pressure on families and businesses in Europe.

The law states that EU countries will "make their utmost efforts" to reduce gas consumption "by at least 15 percent" between August this year and March next year, based on the quantities they have consumed over the past five years.

But some EU countries have had exceptions to this rule being strictly followed, a so-called "voluntary reduction in demand".

These countries are either not fully connected to the European electricity grid or to pipelines with other parts of the European Union, or they are not able to provide enough pipeline gas to help other member states.

Hungary, which relies on gas directly pumped to it from Russia, demanded an exception.

The bulk of European gas imports from Russia last year, amounting to 40 percent, came to Germany, the largest economic power in the European Union.

And if the European Commission detects a "significant gas supply shortfall" or exceptionally high demand, it can ask EU countries to declare a state of alert for the bloc. Such a move would make consumption cuts mandatory and limit exceptions.

Unless European Union sanctions on Moscow cover Russian gas, the Kremlin has cut supplies drastically anyway, something that Brussels saw as an attempt to twist its arm.