Poland will not be included in the top-down plans to reduce gas consumption prepared by the European Union, said Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa in Brussels, where a meeting of EU ministers on the energy crisis and planned countermeasures is being held on 26 July.

The main topic of the extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers is the European Commission’s proposal for a mandatory reduction in gas consumption in the event of a gas supply crisis in the EU.

Minister Moskwa said that “in the European Commission’s proposal “there are no reduction targets for Poland”, which was a negotiation goal for us”.

The proposal is neutral for Poland, the minister said, adding that no EU country should be forced to reduce gas consumption. We cannot talk about energy security on the basis of forced solutions.

According to the European Commission’s proposal, the document assumes a 15 per cent reduction in natural gas consumption between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023, but this will not apply to Poland.

“Poland is one of the few countries that no longer buys gas from Russia. In addition, we have been doing a lot to become independent of Moscow for a long time – unlike, for example, the Germans, who are becoming increasingly dependent on Putin’s gas blackmails through successive Nord Stream lines. This is why we should not be included in the new reductions,” said RMF FM radio reporter Krzysztof Berenda.

Adrian Andrzejewski