The European gas emergency plan comes into force today. The EU member states aim to cut gas consumption by at least 15 percent between August and March of next year – voluntarily at first and mandatorily in the event of a Union-wide alert. This is meant to be a signal to the Kremlin, even if the majority of member states have negotiated exceptions. To reach the 15 percent target, Germany would have to reduce its gas consumption by about 10 billion cubic meters.