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Posted by: Carolina Străjescu
News / International
27 July 2022 / 09:30
Hungary attacks the EU agreement on reducing gas consumption: "It is a harmful proposal that completely ignores national interests"
Hungary qualifies as "inapplicable" the agreement by which the European Union states agreed to reduce the consumption of natural gas by 15% - with exceptions for some member states -an agreement that follows a new decrease in Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Hungary is the only EU country that voted against the agreement.
"It is an unjustifiable, useless, inapplicable and harmful proposal, which completely ignores national interests," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, quoted by AFP, according to Agerpres.
"Will someone from Brussels explain to the Hungarians that there is gas in Hungary that households and companies cannot use? It is nonsense", added the Hungarian official.
He also spoke about the "dubious legal basis" of this agreement, arguing that the security of energy supply is the "responsibility of the national governments" of the EU states.
Among the 27 EU states, only Hungary voted against the agreement, for the adoption of which a qualified majority was sufficient in the EU Council.
The initial request of the European Commission was for the EU states to uniformly reduce their gas consumption by 15%, so that volumes of gas become available for deliveries to other member states, to help Germany in particular, a country highly dependent on Russian gas.
According to the final agreement, the member states will do "everything possible" to reduce their gas consumption by 15% between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, compared to the average of the last five years.
This commitment is voluntary, but in case of a "risk of serious shortage" it will become mandatory, but the mechanism established as a compromise to overcome the opposition of reluctant states establishes a series of exceptions, in an attempt to adapt it to the realities of each country.
"Will someone from Brussels explain to the Hungarians that there is gas in Hungary that households and companies cannot use? It is nonsense", added the Hungarian official.
He also spoke about the "dubious legal basis" of this agreement, arguing that the security of energy supply is the "responsibility of the national governments" of the EU states.
Among the 27 EU states, only Hungary voted against the agreement, for the adoption of which a qualified majority was sufficient in the EU Council.
The initial request of the European Commission was for the EU states to uniformly reduce their gas consumption by 15%, so that volumes of gas become available for deliveries to other member states, to help Germany in particular, a country highly dependent on Russian gas.
According to the final agreement, the member states will do "everything possible" to reduce their gas consumption by 15% between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, compared to the average of the last five years.
This commitment is voluntary, but in case of a "risk of serious shortage" it will become mandatory, but the mechanism established as a compromise to overcome the opposition of reluctant states establishes a series of exceptions, in an attempt to adapt it to the realities of each country.
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