Polish MEP Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR) presented his draft report on the revision of the EU Regulation (347/2013) on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) on Tuesday 13 April at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
Unsurprisingly, the issue of the treatment of gas infrastructure was once again at the centre of the discussions (see EUROPE 12686/25).
While Krasnodębski wants existing natural gas projects of common interest (PCIs) to be allowed to retain their ‘PCI status’ (and thus be eligible for EU funding), other MEPs, such as Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France), believe that all gas-related projects should be excluded from the TEN-E regulation (see EUROPE 12695/8).
Reacting to the sometimes very different views of parliamentarians, the Commission, for its part, recalled that its revision proposal (see EUROPE 12623/3, 12618/9) provides for the exclusion of natural gas projects from the scope of the regulation, given that the European natural gas market “will be secured and well interconnected” once the projects already underway are completed, i.e. around 2022, according to the institution’s forecasts.
Instead, the Commission plans to include a new category for smart gas networks, believing that they will play a role in delivering renewable and low-carbon gases such as biomethane and biogas.
“This is certainly not a backdoor for fossil gas”, the Commission went on to say, hoping to convince those MEPs most opposed to any mention of gas in the revised regulation.
The draft report is expected to be voted on by the ITRE Committee on 15 July. The deadline for tabling of amendments is 20 April. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)