Germany is to take the first step in the national emergency plan for the gas supply.

The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) spoke out in favor of this on Thursday.

The interest group of around 2000 companies in the industry is calling on the federal government to declare the early warning level in the national gas emergency plan.

Jan Hauser

Editor in Business.

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"There are concrete and serious indications that we are coming to a deterioration in the gas supply situation," said Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board.

"With Putin's announcement that gas deliveries will have to be paid for in rubles in the future, an impact on gas deliveries cannot be ruled out."

The early warning stage is the first of three crisis stages in the gas security of supply regulation.

In principle, this is the case before an actual emergency, which is likely to occur.

The next level is the alert level, which also does not yet prescribe any state intervention.

In this case, there is a disruption in the gas supply or an exceptionally high demand.

The third crisis level is the emergency level, in which the effects of a bottleneck can be felt: "The gas supply is not sufficient to cover the remaining gas demand," it says.

Then additional non-market-based measures should be taken.

Germany wants to become more independent

For the time being, it is expected that this will not limit the gas supply for households.

It will be more difficult for industrial companies.

"The federal load distributor, the Federal Network Agency, must develop criteria as to which industries and sectors will continue to be supplied with gas even in the context of a gas shortage," said Andreae.

“Household customers are protected by the existing regulation.” In addition, the early warning stage must be coordinated at European level.

The Bonn economist Moritz Schularick sees that by fixing the ruble, Putin is forcing Western importers to help him stabilize the exchange rate, which in Russia is the indicator of the stability of his regime.

"We must not help him, otherwise we will become even more accomplices in his war," he said on Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, he and eight other colleagues presented a macroeconomic model calculation according to which a ban on Russian energy imports would reduce gross domestic product by 0.5 to 3 percent.

They assess this as probably substantial, but manageable.

Similarly, eleven Leopoldina scientists assessed a short-term stop in the supply of Russian gas.

Other individual economists, on the other hand, consider the consequences to be stronger.

In response to Putin's announcement, Union politicians called for a clear no to paying for future energy supplies from Russia in rubles.

"Free Europe must not allow itself to be blackmailed," said parliamentary group leader Andreas Jung (CDU) on Thursday in the Bundestag.

The EU must not "go behind our own decisions and undermine our own sanctions".

Jung demanded that the EU heads of state and government had to “give a clear, joint European answer” to the attempted blackmail from Moscow at their summit meeting in Brussels.

At the same time, it is right now to "do everything to become independent of Russian energy exports".

He offered Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) a cooperation: "You have our express support on this path."

Other CDU politicians demanded that Germany stop buying natural gas from Russia.

This is what MEP Dennis Radtke and Member of Parliament Roderich Kiesewetter, foreign policy officer in the Foreign Affairs Committee said.

The Green MEP Michael Bloss also spoke out in favor of an energy embargo.

So far, the federal government has not joined calls for an energy embargo against Russia.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had reiterated this position this week: Sanctions must have a strong effect on Russia on the one hand, but on the other hand they must also be manageable for their own economy, he said.

He had previously described Russian energy as essential to citizens' daily lives.

Similarly, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) warned of a severe economic crisis in the event of an embargo.

Putin is probably aiming his new initiative at the meeting of the heads of state and government of the European Union on Thursday and Friday, in an attempt to prevent further sanctions.