Driven by the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU, European energy ministers cleared the way for a general approach, possibly before the end of this year, on the proposal for revision of the regulation on the security of gas supply, one of the two key proposals (along with the revision of the transparency mechanism for inter-governmental agreements – IGAs – in the area of energy between EU member states and third countries) presented by the Commission in February (see EUROPE 11491).
Ministers set out clear parameters in three key areas of the draft text – regional cooperation, exchange of information on commercial gas contracts, and solidarity – with a view to agreeing a mandate before the end of the term of office of the Slovak Presidency so that the incoming Maltese Presidency, which takes up the reins on 1 January, can enter into trialogue negotiations with the European Parliament in the first half of 2017.
“'Security of gas supply remains Europe’s Achilles heel. Of course, there are countries that are better off and others that are worse off. If we should rally our countries around one issue of common interest, it is this”, said Slovak Economy Minister Peter Ziga. He expressed his pleasure that “a clear solution” is emerging in Council and said that the ambition now was to transform this political guidance immediately into concrete provisions so that Maltese Presidency can open negotiations with the Parliament.
Ministers agreed that, in the revised text, regional cooperation would be based on risk-based groups of member states identified on the basis of the main transnational risks for the EU’s gas supply. Groups of member states and the relevant risks will be specified in the regulation, taking into account the results of a preliminary assessment by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSO-G). These groups may be updated after a final ENTSO-G simulation, which will deliver data on impacts and possible solutions, including emergency supply corridors along the lines of the main existing infrastructure.
With regard to the exchange of information on commercial gas contracts, it was agreed that the competent authority in the member state concerned would assess the long-term contracts which provide 40% or more of the country’s annual gas consumption, especially as regards their impact on the security of gas supplies in that member state and region. The competent authority and the Commission will also be able to request other information relevant to security of supply on key gas supply contracts, even if they do not fulfil the 40% threshold. Germany and France, which are not keen on information exchange and are reluctant to give too much power to the Commission, agreed to negotiate on the Slovak compromise as a whole.
There was broad support for the concept of solidarity and for its inclusion in the proposal for a revised regulation of a solidarity mechanism that would allow a member state to come to the assistance of another in the event of a crisis or disruption of supply, as a last-resort mechanism after all emergency measures have been exhausted. Ministers agreed that solidarity, together with general principles regarding compensation, should be defined in the text of the regulation, while allowing member states to take into account their specific national situations and possible different approaches to calculating the compensation. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)