15 states agree reverse flow plan to wean EU off Russian gas

Fifteen countries from central, eastern and southeastern Europe yesterday  pledged to accelerate the construction of the continent’s gas pipeline network and to allow the “reverse flow” of gas (the selling on of imported gas to other countries) as part of an EU drive to reduce its member states’ reliance on Russia as an energy supplier and to develop a fully integrated energy market.
Representatives from  countries including  Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia convened in Dubrovnik on Friday to sign up to the EU’s Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European Gas Connectivity (CESEC) proposal to both improve the network and to make fuller use of the existing infrastructure.
“The improvement of infrastructure through realistic and feasible projects is crucial to the diversification of  energy resources and the strengthening of  the region’s resilience to supply shocks,” European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said at the signing. The CESEC High Level Group was set up in February this year to draw up a road map with the ultimate aim of providing all member states with at least three independent sources of gas.