Despite the persistence of serious differences, the various political groups in the European Parliament are finally making progress towards forming compromise amendments to the draft report by MEP Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, Poland) on the revision of the EU Regulation (347/2013) on the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E).
It must be said that the dossier, which is particularly divisive, has fallen behind the initial schedule (see EUROPE 12754/24).
It is of particular importance, however, as it involves modernising the EU rules on European cross-border energy infrastructure. The aim is to align the TEN-E regulation with the objectives of the ‘European Green Deal’, by selecting, on the basis of a series of criteria defined in the regulation, the infrastructure projects eligible for European funding (the ‘projects of common interest’ or PCIs).
A final meeting on Monday 13?
The draft compromise amendments from this week, as consulted by EUROPE, will be the subject of a meeting on Monday 13 at 8pm between Krasnodębski and the shadow rapporteurs of the other groups, a source told us.
The aim is for MEPs to be able to confirm the amendments so that they can be voted on in the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on 27 September, with a view to a vote by all MEPs at one of the two October plenary sessions (probably the second session).
Gas, a stumbling block in the negotiations
However, a number of issues still divide MEPs, in particular the role of gas.
While the Greens/EFA and The Left want to exclude everything related to fossil gas from the regulation, including the ‘blending’ of hydrogen with methane, the ECR and EPP groups are championing a compromise amendment to keep fossil gas in the regulation temporarily.
They are therefore proposing that the fossil gas projects on the fourth or fifth list of PCIs (based on the current TEN-E Regulation) could be included, for a “transitional period”, in the first list of PCIs adopted under the revised Regulation.
According to the compromise amendment, these projects should nevertheless “contribute significantly to sustainability, including by enhancing the switch from solid fossil fuels, in particular coal, lignite, peat and oil shale, to natural gas (...), by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by improving air quality”.
While the amendment does not give details of the transitional period at this stage, it does provide that hydrogen assets may be used for the transport or storage of pre-defined mixtures of hydrogen with natural gas or biomethane.
The European Commission, on the other hand, had proposed the exclusion of fossil gas infrastructure and pipelines from the TEN-E regulation, thus depriving them of the possibility of benefiting from European funding under a PCI status (see EUROPE 12623/3, 12618/9). A position also adopted by the Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) (see EUROPE 12746/16).
It should be noted that the meeting between the rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs on Monday will also address other divisive issues, including a proposal from the Greens/EFA and Renew Europe groups to include heating and cooling systems as a new project category in the TEN-E regulation.
In the EU Council, the Member States struggled to reach a political agreement (‘general approach’) on this issue on 11 June (see EUROPE 12739/1). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)