BRUSSELS - (Xinhua) -- European Union member states have reached a political consensus on voluntarily cutting gas consumption by 15 percent from the 2017-2021 average, officials announced Tuesday.

Josef Sekela, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, chaired an extraordinary meeting of the EU Council on energy on Tuesday, as the EU prepares for a possible disruption in gas supplies during the winter.

"The member states agreed to reduce their demand for gas by 15 percent compared to their average consumption in the past five years, between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, with measures of their choice," the European Council said in a statement.

"Possible measures include reducing gas consumption in the electricity sector, measures to encourage switching to fuels in industry, national awareness campaigns, targeted pledges to reduce heating and cooling, and market-based measures such as auctions between companies," he added.

However, there are many exemptions from the 15 percent target, as island nations such as Malta, Cyprus and Ireland are exempted because they are not connected to the EU gas grid.

Other exemptions include member states that have already exceeded the gas storage mobilization target, those whose industries rely heavily on gas as feedstock, and those whose gas consumption increased by at least eight percent in the past year compared to the average of the past five years.

The Union Alert can be activated either by the European Commission if it observes a "substantial risk of severe gas shortages or exceptionally high demand", or "if five or more Member States declare a national alert and request the Commission to do so". .