New EU regulation on gas storage [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Alex Wilson (1st edition).

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered serious concerns about EU energy security. The problem is particularly acute in the gas sector, where Russia is the leading third-country supplier, on which several Member States are heavily dependent. To ensure the EU is prepared for the risk of an interruption of gas supplies next winter, the Commission has proposed an urgent regulation on gas storage, requiring Member States to: fill in at least 80 % of their storage capacity by 1 November 2022 (rising to 90 % in subsequent years); carry out the certification of all gas storage system operators; and provide a 100 % tariff discount on entry and exit points into gas storage.

The Commission has suggested that this regulation be agreed under an expedited procedure by the Parliament and the Council, so that it can start taking full effect from summer 2022. The ITRE committee decided to call for use of the urgent procedure (Rule 163) without a committee report, and appointed a negotiating team of MEPs to enter immediately into interinstitutional negotiations with the Council and the Commission. This decision was endorsed during the April plenary session of the European Parliament.

Versions

April 2022: New EU regulation on gas storage (1st edition)

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and Regulation (EC) No 2009/715 on conditions for access to natural gas transmission networks

Committee responsible:	Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE)	COM(2022) 135 23.3.2022
Negotiating team:	Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland), coordinator Patrizia Toia (S&D, Italy) Klemen Grošelj (Renew, Slovenia) Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France) Paolo Borchia (ID, Italy) Zdzislaw Krasnodębski (ECR, Poland) Sandra Pereira (The Left, Portugal)	2022/0090(COD) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)