FILE: Brussels, Belgium - 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of headquarters of European Commission, flags of European Union

FILE: Paris, France - Oct 13, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Building of International Energy Agency (IEA)

FILE: Paris, France - July 3, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Logo of IEA

FILE: Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Sept 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of deserted power plant facilities

FILE: Schwedt, Germany - Sept 2, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Steam rising from refinery building
6. Various of poster about oil refinery crisis

FILE: Berlin, Germany - Oct 10, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Shoppers in heating device store
8. Various of heating devices in store

FILE: London, UK - Dec 29, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Gas stove
10. Person turning on heating switch

FILE: Salisbury, UK - May 21, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of kettle

FILE: Paris, France - Oct 10, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of empty gas station
13. Lines of vehicles waiting for refueling at gas station
14. Various of people refueling cars

The European Union faces a potential shortfall of almost 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The EU is promoting joint gas procurement under the Energy Platform and is on track to meet its goal of reducing gas demand by 15 percent, Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic said after a high-level roundtable on EU joint procurement of natural gas on Tuesday.

Shareholders in Uniper, Germany's largest gas supplier, approved a state bailout on Monday, paving the way for a de facto nationalization of the struggling gas giant.

The German government will acquire a majority stake of about 98.5 percent in Uniper. The company's nationalization will start within this week, according to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany.

As the largest natural gas importer in Germany, Uniper sells natural gas to hundreds of energy suppliers and companies. It has been suffering huge losses due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On September 21 this year, the German government reached a framework agreement with Uniper to acquire Uniper's shares from its previous majority shareholder, Finland's state-owned Fortum, and to raise about 25 billion euros for the company through the issuance of new shares.

In France, facing fears of possible large-scale and continuous power cuts this winter, people and businesses are stocking up on camping stoves and generators.

The sales of stoves and lanterns at a camping equipment store in Paris rose tenfold in December, according to its manager.

A generator dealer in the country said most of their 500 generators in stock have been sold to enterprises, public institutions, medical clinics and government agencies, leaving them only about 100 generators left in stock.

A recent cold wave across France has led to a surge in demand for electricity while nuclear power generation in the country has dropped to a 30-year low as several nuclear reactors operated by power giant EDF are currently closed for maintenance and repairs.

In the United Kingdom, which is outside the EU, a recent survey of more than 2,500 British residents conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that 4 percent of the respondents have defaulted on power bills. Some of them had to repeatedly postpone repayment and were even forced to go to libraries to keep warm.

According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on last Wednesday, annual inflation in the UK soared to 10.7 percent in November. The high inflation is exacerbating the cost of living crisis in the country.