“So far, 22 EU Member States have expressed preliminary interest in aggregating gas demand of more than 17 billion m³ over the next 3 years”, said European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič following the second official meeting of the Steering Board of the EU Energy Platform on Thursday 2 March.
The body, composed of high-level representatives of the Member States, aims to facilitate the joint purchase of gas, the content of which was set out in November (see EUROPE 13071/2), in particular with a view to ensuring security of supply for the coming winter, but also to bring down prices.
Vice-President Šefčovič added that he had encouraged “the remaining five Member States to indicate their volumes as soon as possible”, without mentioning them. In addition to the 17 billion m³, Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia have requested 4 billion m³ of gas.
The purpose of this second official meeting was to inform Member States about the latest developments in joint gas procurement (see EUROPE 13100/20). The Vice-President reported on the selection by the European Commission of a service provider, Prisma, in January this year to organise the IT platform for aggregating demand.
Discussions also focused on a scheme known as the ‘central buyer scheme’, which will allow gas companies to negotiate a contract with suppliers for aggregated demand on behalf of small gas companies and gas consumers. “We aim to have a number of central buyers, representing different groups or companies, to encourage competition, in the ultimate interest of European consumers”, said Maroš Šefčovič, before announcing that he would launch a call for expressions of interest for companies wishing to take on this role, ideally in the first half of March.
Next week, the Vice-President will hold a meeting with associations representing the main industrial consumers in Europe, as well as a virtual meeting with international gas suppliers, wishing to point out that, “for the moment, the feedback is positive”. As far as the timetable is concerned, the objective has remained unchanged: Mr Šefčovič hopes that joint gas purchases will be launched as early as April. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)