The European ministers meeting in the EU ‘Telecommunications’ Council (see other news) on Tuesday 21 May validated the Interinstitutional Agreement on the gas package (a directive and a regulation) aimed at facilitating the penetration of renewable and low-carbon gases into the energy system, in particular for the production of hydrogen.
The directive was the subject of an Interinstitutional Agreement on 28 November 2023 (see EUROPE 13302/7) and the co-legislators agreed on the regulation on 8 December (see EUROPE 13310/5).
On Tuesday, only Hungary rejected the package, which includes the possibility for Member States to limit gas imports from Russia and Belarus.
The regulation also provides for the creation of an independent European Network of Network Operators for Hydrogen (ENNOH), which should be fully operational by January 2027.
It then introduces a common structural gas purchasing system and a pilot project to support the EU hydrogen market for five years (see EUROPE 13410/24).
To ensure the gradual phasing out of fossil fuels, the directive lays down, among other things, the end of long-term contracts for fossil gas from 2049.
To see the texts: https://aeur.eu/f/c9y ; https://aeur.eu/f/c9z (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)