Brussels, 28/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament, Council and Commission negotiators reached trialogue agreement on Wednesday 23 June on the draft regulation on the security of gas supply, which seeks to strengthen the current Community system which is based on Directive 2004/67/EC. In the energy committee at the end of March, Parliament established its position, on the basis of a draft amended by the report by Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP, Spain). The compromise now has to be approved by Parliament and the Council. Vidal-Quadras is due to present it to the energy committee on Tuesday. The committee will then vote on the text in July, before it is put to the vote in the plenary session in September.
The next regulation seeks to remedy the lack of coordination between member states and the problem of insufficient interconnection between member states' energy infrastructure in the event of disruption of supply. It will provide, for the first time, an indicator of major disruption of supply, which is supposed to trigger solidarity mechanisms. It will be useful to recall the broad thrust of the draft regulation amended by Parliament.
Preventive action plans. In the event of failure of main infrastructure, member states will ensure that the remaining infrastructure (N-1) is able to meet total daily gas demand on a day of “exceptionally high demand” which, statistically, happens once every 20 years. National authorities should also comply with an infrastructure standard, for example, by introducing reverse flows, ensuring connections to the integrated EU gas network and by breaking dependence on one single third country gas supplier. The energy committee also amended the draft text by calling on the Commission to draw up a long-term supply strategy. One year after the regulation comes into force, the Commission will assess liquefied natural gas installations, storage capacities and regional cooperation. On the basis of its report, it will draft recommendations to improve preventive action and emergency plans.
Emergency and trigger measures. If, despite these preventive measures, an emergency should occur as result of a serious disruption or exceptionally high demand where market mechanisms can no longer ensure supplies, then the member state will activate an emergency response. This must ensure that cross-border access to storage facilities and the flow of gas across borders are maintained. The energy committee amended the threshold for declaration of an EU state of emergency and broadened the areas in which the Commission can act, for example, to come to the assistance of regions particularly badly affected. Under the terms of the amended text, emergency measures will be triggered automatically as soon as more than one member state declares a situation of national emergency, when the EU records a drop of more than 20% in its daily imports of gas from third countries or when a member state or one EU region declares an emergency or the region as a whole sees a drop of more than 10% in its daily imports of gas from third countries; the Commission will ensure that these conditions are complied with. The text notes that co-operation between the following countries, among others, could enhance their gas supply security: Poland and the three Baltic States; Spain, Portugal and France; Ireland and United Kingdom; Bulgaria, Greece and Romania; Denmark and Sweden; Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Romania; Poland and Germany; France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg; and Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Single market and customer protection. The text amended by Parliament acknowledges that market mechanisms are the first and best line of defence against possible supply disruptions. Member states should, then, base their preventive plans primarily on such measures, leaving non-market measures as a very last resort when the markets alone cannot solve a supply disruption. Nevertheless, householders are, by definition, customers whose gas supplies are protected. In its initial proposal, the Commission said that protected consumers should also include small and medium-sized enterprises, schools and hospitals. In its amended text, Parliament proposes leaving it up to member states, which will be able to include other kinds of protected consumers, while respecting solidarity pledges to other member states. Under the terms of the amended text, gas suppliers must ensure supplies to protected customers in the event of extreme temperatures during a seven-day peak period and for 30 days of exceptionally high demand, during the coldest weather. (E.H./transl.rt)