Dhe EU might have reacted with sovereignty to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if the member states had stuffed their pure gas storage services sufficiently earlier than final winter. This is applicable not solely to the storage services operated by Gazprom itself. In any case, the storage tanks contribute 30 % to the gas provide in “regular” winters. The European Fee due to this fact proposed a regulation for minimum filling levels in March. In file time, just some weeks later, negotiators from the EU Parliament and the Council of Ministers have now agreed on the regulation. The storage tanks have to be 80 % full by November 1 of this 12 months. Even 90 % are deliberate for the following few years. Nonetheless, this could solely apply – at the least initially – briefly. The minimum necessities for storage ought to expire on the finish of 2025.
With their settlement, the negotiators largely adopted the Fee’s proposal, however weakened it on plenty of factors. This consists of the expiry date for the fill levels. As well as, they’re capped at 35 % of the typical annual consumption over the previous 5 years in order to not overwhelm nations with giant storage services. LPG shares and different gases are to be counted. As well as, Malta, Cyprus and Eire are excluded as a result of they don’t seem to be linked to the remainder of the gas community. States that would not have their very own storage services ought to retailer 15 % of their common annual consumption over the previous 5 years with others and contribute financially to the storage.
At present 18 of the 27 Member States have their very own storage services. Nonetheless, virtually three quarters of the full storage capability is concentrated in 5 states. Along with Germany, these are Italy, France, the Netherlands and Austria. Gas storage services which are vital for the availability needs to be checked by the member states inside 150 days. If it seems that they pose a menace to safety of provide, the storage operators’ licenses could be revoked. They then need to promote their shares or could be expropriated.
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Little will change for Germany with the brand new EU regulation. A brand new gas storage regulation has been in power on this nation since April 30, which prescribes a minimum fill stage of 90 % by the start of November this 12 months. The settlement additionally accommodates a transparent dedication to the joint buy of gas by the member states. From August onwards, a number of states are to affix forces. The fee ought to current a form of “directions” for this by then. However this stays strictly voluntary. Germany particularly is skeptical about joint gas buying. Most just lately, nonetheless, the federal authorities mentioned that so much relies upon on the minimize. The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament nonetheless need to formally affirm the settlement on gas storage levels. However that’s thought of a formality.
