Members' Research Service By / April 28, 2022

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

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted the EU to take exceptional measures to address its security of supply risks, particularly in the gas sector where Russia is the main third-country supplier, responsible for around 45 % of the EU’s gas imports.

© PX Media/ Adobe Stock

Written by Alex Wilson (2nd edition, updated on 20.06.2022).

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 proposed that this urgent regulation be agreed under an expedited procedure by the Parliament and the Council, so that it could start taking full effect from summer 2022. The co-legislators proceeded to swiftly negotiate a text, with agreement reached after trilogue negotiations on 19 May 2022. The agreed text was endorsed in the ITRE committee on 2 June 2022 and is to be voted during the June II plenary session. It must also be adopted by the Council of the EU, before it can enter into force. The agreed text endorses the core tenets of the Commission’s proposal but also takes account of national variations and the need for flexibilities in the gas market.  

Versions

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
RapporteurCristian Silviu Bușoi (EPP, Romania)2022/0090(COD)
Negotiating team:Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland)
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)
Ordinary legislative procedure (COD)
(Parliament and Council on
equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)
Next steps expected: First-reading vote in plenary on agreed text

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

EU storage capacity (TWh)
EU storage capacity (TWh)

Related Articles

Be the first to write a comment.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Epthinktank

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading