Although the proposed revision of the European Union’s Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) regulation (347/2013) will exclude fossil gas projects from receiving EU funding, gas industry lobbyists are expected to retain a stranglehold on Europe’s energy future by playing a formal role in EU decisions on energy infrastructure development and financing, says a report by NGOs Friends of the Earth Europe and Food & Water Action Europe published on Wednesday 14 April.
According to these NGOs, the European Commission’s proposed revision (see EUROPE 12623/3, 12618/9) risks “opening the door to gas through fossil-based hydrogen” by maintaining a “central role” for the ‘European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas’ (ENTSO-G) - an organisation whose members include transmission system operators owned by gas companies such as Gazprom or Engie - in the design of the future EU energy system.
They therefore call for the transfer of ENTSO-G’s role to an independent expert body to advise the EU on priority energy infrastructure developments.
In a discussion with MEPs on Tuesday (see EUROPE 12697/14), the Commission said its review proposal provides a “balanced” framework for EU energy infrastructure planning, while highlighting the “unique expertise” of transmission system operators.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2PTz60Z (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)