On Thursday 29 February in Strasbourg, MEPs approved by a very large majority (440 votes in favour, 32 against and 31 abstentions) the provisional agreement reached with the EU Council in November 2023 on the REMIT regulation, aimed at countering manipulation on wholesale energy markets (see EUROPE 13294/5).
The day before, the general rapporteur, Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP, Portuguese), spoke of the essence of this revision during a debate in the Chamber. The drafting and negotiations began in 2023, in response to the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“With the crisis we have been going through, we have seen a number of weaknesses and loopholes that have unfortunately been exploited, but also texts that duplicated each other and difficulties in dealing with cases of transnational manipulation”, said Ms Carvalho.
“In order to deal with all of this, as rapporteur, I have based my work on three main principles. Above all, we need a stronger European dimension, we need coherence and transparency, and we need to strengthen the market”, she added.
In particular, the text aims to give a greater role to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in its right to carry out investigations and impose sanctions, while guaranteeing the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) the possibility of opposing the exercise of ACER’s investigative powers.
The revision also aims to streamline at European level the process of collecting and publishing information, monitoring and sharing information between authorities, to increase transparency by assessing the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and establishing a benchmark, and to make it easier for third countries to comply with the regulation by appointing a representative within the EU.
“We are already in the process of preparing all the essential measures arising from the new REMIT, in particular new delegated acts with all the detailed technical rules”, assured the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, during the debate.
She also explained that the European Commission was awaiting final approval of the Electricity Market Design (EMD) reform (see EUROPE 13329/5) and the gas package (see EUROPE 13334/14), “which will finalise the legislative work on energy markets that stand the test of time”, she concluded. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)