The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, presented the latest developments in joint gas purchasing to the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on Tuesday 28 March (see EUROPE 12919/1).
By way of an introduction to his explanations, Maroš Šefčovič noted that the measures announced will make it possible to benefit from the weight of the EU in the face of the vulnerability of the natural gas market, which has been subject to “many shocks” in recent years. The objective of a new joint gas purchasing policy is to ensure security of supply at an acceptable price while maintaining the competitiveness of European companies.
In this sense, Maroš Šefčovič has called for vigilance, explaining that diversifying supply sources is essential for ensuring sufficient quantities. “Only Russia has been excluded” from the group of potential global suppliers, he said.
The first step in the scheme presented by Mr Šefčovič is the opening of the AggregateEU online platform on 28 March; this will permit the registration of all European gas companies who wish to participate in the joint purchasing. “Even the smaller ones, who have limited experience, should be able to benefit from it”, said Šefčovič.
Over the course of the discussion, the Vice-President of the European Commission suggested that Ukraine, Serbia and Moldova were also concerned.
In terms of financial matters, in order to ensure adequate guarantees, exchanges have increased, “with commercial and promotional banks and financial institutions”, such as the European Investment Bank, Maroš Šefčovič also emphasised.
For the Commission Vice-President, who took to Twitter after the exchanges, this platform is “a key step towards the first aggregation of demand in April, followed by a call for tenders for joint purchasing in May”. Following this, a presentation will be set up “on a bi-monthly basis, on a permanent basis”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)