There is no Belgian signature yet under an international call to reduce gas consumption

More than 10 countries in the European Union are calling in a letter to significantly reduce Europe’s dependence on gas by 2030 and to act as a unit against “Russian aggression”. Striking: Belgium is missing from that list. No action has been initiated to join our country in the initiative. As the climate portfolio is spread over the different policy levels, the Flemish government is also involved. It appears in federal government circles that “the N-VA was supposed to vote against.”

Despite this reluctance, Belgium was also informed of the initiative by countries such as Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain by Monday. Standard† The procedure was initiated within Belgium for (the message, so.) “It can still be validated,” says Tom Mullenberg, a spokesman for Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo (Open VLD).

In the Cabinet of Ministers of the Flemish Environment Minister Saturn Demir (N-VA) denied starting the procedure.

Continue to make a quantum leap

With the joint statement, the initiators are pressing European negotiations to cut gas consumption by 30 percent by 2030. This is in line with the European Commission’s goal to reduce our common CO2₂emissions by at least 55 percent. The letter emphasizes that only in this way can the import of Russian gas be completely stopped as soon as possible. Therefore, negotiations must proceed faster and ambitions must be raised.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy market has undergone a paradigm shift. Europe must take advantage of this and continue the green transition: “Now it is important to be brave and determined to carry on,” the letter states. “Any delay or hesitation will only prolong our dependency.” In addition to Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Latvia and Slovenia signed the letter.

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Whether Belgium supports the international initiative or not, our country is already taking measures to speed up the energy transition, says Energy Minister spokesman Tine van der Straiten (Gruen). “We’ve already taken action at the federal level, so we are providing substantive support.”

It was not possible to obtain a comment from the Cabinet of Minister of Climate, Zakia Al-Khattabi (Echolo).