European Union states have been told to cut their gas use by 15 per cent as fears increase that Russia could cut all supplies to the bloc for the winter.
While the initial cuts would be voluntary, the European Commission also asked for the power to impose mandatory reductions across the bloc in the event of an EU-wide alert “when there is a substantial risk of a severe gas shortage or an exceptionally high demand of gas occurs, which results in a significant deterioration of the gas supply situation”.
