Parliament and Council negotiators reached an agreement on Thursday on a new regulation that will set the mandatory minimum gas level at storage facilities at 80% by 1 November 2022.
Member States and operators should strive to reach 85%. The target will be 90% for the coming years with the aim of protecting Europeans from possible supply shocks.
During the negotiations, MEPs successfully pushed for more ambition in terms of goals and progress. From 2023 onwards, individual replacement paths will be drawn up with the Commission. MEPs noted that the regulation underlines the need for EU countries to diversify their gas supply sources and to strengthen energy efficiency measures.
Member States without underground storage facilities should ensure that at least 15% of their average consumption over the last five years is stored in another Member State. Alternatively, they should develop a burden-sharing mechanism that provides financial support to achieve the supply objectives.
Joint commission
By 1 August 2022, the Commission will issue guidelines on how to use a gas co-operation mechanism, which can be activated voluntarily by two or more Member States.
Mandatory certification of gas storage facilities
Under the new regulation, storage capacity will become a vital infrastructure. All storage operators should be subject to a new mandatory certification to avoid the risk of external interference.
MEPs pressed for the certification phase to be as short as possible. Member States should publish draft certification decisions by November 2022. Operators who do not obtain such certification will have to relinquish ownership or control of European gas storage facilities. In addition, operators will not be able to close a gas storage facility without the permission of the national regulator.
Statements
“Special circumstances require great speed and efficiency. We have succeeded on both fronts, “said Jerzy Buzek (MEP, MEP), who leads the European Parliament’s negotiating team. “Since 2010 Parliament has been supporting the common gas market in the EU. The EP has been able to include a provision on such a mechanism for the joint supply of gas in the new legislation. I believe that the Member States (with the support of the European Commission) will make the most of the opportunity to unite their purchasing power in the supply of gas to the global energy market. “The pandemic has shown that we are stronger when we are united. Let us make the most of this experience.”
“The legislators have responded to the challenge and reached an agreement to ensure that Europeans have enough gas for next winter and that they are protected from those who seek to use energy supply as a weapon,” said the rapporteur and chairman of the commission. Industry, Research and Energy Cristian Buşoi (EPP, Romania). “We will fight operators who endanger the security of our supply through a certification process that will ensure that critical storage infrastructure is not in the hands of those from whom the risk comes,” he added.
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