European governments are trying to undercut plans pushed by the European Union to reduce gas demand in order to better weather the 2022 winter.

Diplomats from Europe's 27 member states have been negotiating since the European Commission proposed measures last week to cut gas use by 15 percent from next month, according to reports. The plan has sparked a row over the size of the gas-saving targets and whether Brussels has the power to make them binding. The plan needs to be approved by member states at a meeting of energy ministers this week.

According to a draft proposal seen by reporters, EU countries suggested that while voluntary targets for standard harmonization are implemented across the bloc, mandatory targets should take into account countries' dependence on Russian gas and the amount of gas that has managed to get into reserves.

The report pointed out that before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU relied on Russia for about 40%, or 155 billion cubic meters, of natural gas, but since then the EU has vowed to cut off demand for Russian gas by 2027.

Last week, the European Commission recommended that member states should aim to reduce gas demand by 15% over the next eight months, based on the average demand for the same period between 2017 and 2021.

According to reports, the voluntary reduction target will become mandatory if the European Commission believes the energy crisis has become severe enough, or if three member states demand changes. But EU governments — especially southern European countries that are generally less reliant on Russian gas — complained that the European Commission was overreaching its powers and that the 15 percent cut in gas consumption was too high. Editor / Xu Shengpeng