MEPs responsible for amending the proposed regulation on the internal markets in natural and renewable gas and hydrogen (recast of Regulation 715/2009) held a further negotiation meeting on Thursday 8 December to reach compromise amendments.
According to information gathered by EUROPE, the political groups remain divided on several key points of the text presented by the European Commission on 15 December 2021 (see EUROPE 12854/11), notably on the issue of governance.
Rapporteur Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Polish) would like to merge the ‘European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas’ (ENTSOG) and the future ‘ European Network of Network Operators for Hydrogen’ (ENNOH). The Greens/EFA group, represented by Marie Toussaint (French), would be totally opposed to this idea.
At the last meeting, negotiators reportedly expressed their preference for an alternative option of merging ENTSOG, ENNOH and the ‘European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity’ (ENTSOE).
The political groups are also trying to agree on the issue of rebates on tariffs at injection points, to encourage the entry of renewable and low-carbon gases into the EU gas grid. While some groups want to remove these rebates from the proposed regulation (Article 16), Buzek wants to keep them. In line with this new timetable, the draft compromise also postpones (to 2036) the abolition of tariffs for access to hydrogen networks at interconnection points between Member States.
Regarding the maximum level of hydrogen content that EU Member States would be obliged to accept in gas flows at interconnection points from 1 October 2025, the negotiators envisage lowering it from 5% to 2%. Nevertheless, this issue is still under discussion.
However, the political groups have reportedly reached a compromise on the text’s specific provisions on biomethane. They would have agreed to refer to the target proposed by the European Commission in its REPowerEU plan - to increase the annual production and use of biomethane to 35 billion cubic metres by 2030 - but with the introduction of sustainability criteria.
Next steps
The next meeting between the rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs is scheduled for 10 January. The voting session in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is scheduled for February.
On the EU Council side, the Member States’ energy ministers will hold an exchange of views on this dossier at their meeting on 19 December, on the basis of a draft compromise by the Czech Presidency (see EUROPE 13080/10). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)