In the final stretch of her appearance to announce the energy saving measures to which Spain has committed in the face of the current and future cuts in the supply of Russian gas to Europe, the Third Vice President of the Government, Teresa Ribera, made some expressions – «measures of rationing”, “restrictions” – that evoke distant moments of extreme difficulties. Connotation that she did not hide, remembering that it is a situation not seen since the postwar period. Ribera identified these scenarios, as well as the possibility that “even an effective limitation in industrial processes” may become necessary, as the horizon to be avoided through the plans that all the member countries of the EU are launching these weeks. And he circumscribed this extreme hypothesis to the particular situation of the central and northern European countries that are most dependent on Russian gas, which have immediately committed themselves to preventively undertake a 15% reduction in their gas consumption, unlike the Iberian exception that places Spain before the need to achieve savings of 7%. But they must not for that reason sound any less like a warning signal of the extent to which the entire Union must prepare immediately for a difficult winter.
Still waiting for a definitive plan that will not arrive until September, the measures announced after the Council of Ministers on Monday include more or less visible actions and feasible supervision if all public administrations propose it (such as the closure of illuminations exteriors of public buildings at 10:00 p.m. or the control of temperatures in air-conditioned public spaces), others that will be difficult to apply without the unreluctant involvement of large companies (such as that same thermal control, or the closure of refrigerated spaces ) and even some (such as the new promotion of teleworking to reduce energy expenditure on travel) that will require a commitment from companies and individuals. Something that was possible during the hardest months of the pandemic and that remains to be seen if, as it should happen, it will come to be assumed when the most extreme omens seem still distant, or even if they are confirmed. Some reactions between rebellious and burlesque to symbolic but educational measures of the President of the Government on work clothing suggest more than one difficulty: it would be expected that at least they do not find encouragement and encouragement from parties and administrations that should be called to share a attitude of maximum responsibility.
The cutoff of Russian gas supply to Western Europe (until now progressive) may be directed to a greater degree towards those more dependent countries. But it affects all the countries that, faced with the invasion of Ukraine, have committed themselves to its defense up to the very limit of non-belligerence. And (as in the case of other blackmail such as that of Algeria against Spain, or in the face of health or financial crises) all the members of the EU must respond in solidarity. But beyond this reciprocal commitment, compliance with energy saving measures (and those to promote public transport that are also underway) are also one of the necessary actions, in the self-interest of administrations, companies and households, to react to the inflationary slope of which there seems to be no near end in sight, and many potential complications.