The Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Public Utilities, Dan Jørgensen, and the Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Thomas Bareiß, signed a solidarity agreement on Monday 14 December to ensure the supply of gas in the event of a supply crisis. This is the first agreement of its kind to be signed in Europe.
“In this agreement, we have defined how Denmark and Germany can help each other out quickly in the unlikely event of an extreme shortage of gas”, explained Peter Altmaier, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Dan Jørgensen declared: “This text shows an excellent example of European solidarity by securing gas supply and heating for the citizens of both countries”.
The two Ministers also expressed the hope that other EU Member States would follow suit in the near future.
This type of bilateral agreement is indeed encouraged by the revised EU Regulation (2017/1938) concerning measures to safeguard the security of the natural gas supply.
According to this regulation, in the event of extreme gas shortages, solidarity deliveries would be made as a last resort measure to ensure that households, district heating systems, and essential social service institutions in the affected member countries are supplied with gas. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)