According to information gathered by EUROPE, the European Union countries appeared totally divided over the ongoing revision of the European regulation (347/2013) on Trans-European energy networks (TEN-E), on Wednesday 5 May, at a meeting of the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper).
They were to answer three questions posed by the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12710/5), including the possibility of a transitional period for natural gas projects already on the list of ‘projects of common interest’ (PCIs) and at an advanced stage.
While the aim of the questions was to provide political guidance to move towards a compromise, they mainly revealed two camps among the Member States, and no majority. The Presidency reportedly then asked for time to reflect on how to proceed in view of the divisions within the EU Council.
In the run-up to the meeting, eleven Member States (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden) had also issued a joint statement or ‘Non-paper’ in which they stressed that the TEN-E regulation ‘must not facilitate investment in fossil fuel infrastructure’.
The regulators also added that: “It is therefore important that TEN-E provide incentives to invest in the energy system of the future to avoid lock-in effects and sunk investments”, targeting, without naming them, investments in natural gas infrastructure.
It should be noted that the Portuguese Presidency has also informed the Member States of the change of date for the next meeting of the Energy Ministers (‘EU Energy Council’), at which the revision of the TEN-E will be discussed.
For logistical reasons due to Covid-19, this is now brought forward to 11 June.
The same applies to the ‘EU Environment Council’, now scheduled for 10 June. See the statement of the eleven Member States: https://bit.ly/3vI39b1 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)