The European Commission has asked European Union member states to slash their gas use by 15 percent over the coming months to ensure that a complete cutoff of natural gas supplies by Russia to the 27-nation bloc will not fundamentally disrupt industries next winter. Deutsche Welle reports that The Commission unveiled an emergency plan to scale back gas consumption in case Russia totally cuts off supplies, which Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said is “a likely scenario.” In unveiling the proposal, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia was “using energy as a weapon.”
