European Union governments agreed Tuesday to ration natural gas this winter.
The move is meant to prevent severe shortages in the future. The agreement came after less than one week of talks. EU officials hope rationing gas in the winter will protect Europe against further supply cuts by Russia as it continues its invasion of Ukraine. EU energy officials approved a draft European law meant to lower demand for gas by 15 percent from August through March. The new law includes voluntary national measures to reduce gas use. But if the voluntary measures do not ease supplies enough, there will be required measures for the 27-country group.