The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is sounding out Member States on the possibility of extending the provisions on reducing gas demand in the EU and strengthening the provisions on filling targets for gas reserves, says a Presidency document dated 10 January.
According to an EU Council Regulation (2022/1369) adopted on 5 August 2022 via an urgency procedure (Article 122 TFEU), Member States have to reduce their gas demand by 15% between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023, on a voluntary basis, compared to their average consumption in the same period over the previous 5 years (see EUROPE 13000/1).
In view of the changing energy situation in the EU, the Swedish Presidency is asking the Member States whether they see an interest in extending this target and making it binding.
This could be done by including a general obligation to reduce gas demand as part of the proposed recast of the EU Regulation (2017/1938) to ensure the security of gas supply in the EU.
Storage
Since the end of June 2022, Member States must also ensure that underground fossil gas storage facilities on their territory are filled to sufficient levels, respecting filling trajectories under a separate EU Council Regulation (2022/1032) (see EUROPE 12980/3, 13070/43).
On this point, Stockholm asked the national delegations about the possible introduction of a permanent storage obligation in Article 67 of the above-mentioned proposal for a recast of the Regulation.
“Does your Member State see a merit in reflecting any other provision of the recent emergency regulations in the Recast Regulation?”, also questions the Swedish document.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/4wk (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)