On Wednesday 9 April, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is aiming to reach a political agreement in principle on a two-year extension of the European rules governing gas storage.
To achieve this objective, the national experts, who will meet the day before, will be asked to validate several provisions of the fourth Polish compromise proposal relating to the flexibility criteria and the arrangements for the entry into force of the future regulation (see EUROPE 13612/18).
Dated 2 April, this compromise proposal confirms the possibility for Member States to deviate by up to 5% from the mandatory 90% filling target in the case of unfavourable market conditions, such as market manipulations. And if these unfavourable conditions persist, the Commission could authorise a deviation of more than 5%.
There is also clarification of an additional possibility of deviating from the final target of 5%, if one of the following two conditions is met: - national gas production exceeds average annual consumption over the preceding two years; - certain underground storage capacities (above 40 TWh) require a long injection period (more than 115 days).
The entry into force of the regulation will have an impact on the application, or not, of the indicative filling trajectory for the winter of 2025-2026.
Once the EU Council has agreed its negotiating position with the European Parliament, the Polish Presidency hopes to be in a position to finalise negotiations before the end of June.
Member States will have to consult the Commission and justify their decision immediately.
See the Polish Presidency’s compromise proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/g90 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)