Closer cooperation and reinforced solidarity to ensure security of gas supply
The Council adopted today a revised regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply. The legislative act will enter into force four days after being published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The general purpose of the regulation is to reinforce the European Union energy security, reducing its dependency on others for energy supplies and enabling it to deal more quickly and efficiently with any gas supply crises.
It will also contribute to a better functioning internal energy market and to build greater trust and solidarity both within the EU and with its partners from the Energy Community.
The main elements of the regulation are:
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-enhanced regional cooperation and coordination set on risk-based groups of member states
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-mandatory regional preventive action plans and emergency plans, as well as regional risk assessments, to be prepared jointly by all member states within the same risk-group
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-a solidarity mechanism which will have a mandatory application in extreme crisis scenarios
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-increased monitoring of provisions in the gas supply contracts
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-specific obligations of EU member states towards the Energy Community, as well as Commission powers to coordinate the application of the legal framework between the EU and the Energy Community
This regulation, as well as the decision regarding intergovernmental agreements (IGA"s), are two of the main building blocks of the Energy Union strategy.
Background
The European Council of March 2015 agreed on the commitment for the EU to build an Energy Union and called for inter alia accelerating infrastructure projects, including interconnections, in particular to peripheral regions, for electricity and gas to ensure energy security and a well-functioning internal energy market.
The Commission presented its proposal for replacing Council regulation 994/2010 on 16 February 2016.
The European Parliament's ITRE Committee voted on the report together with the EP negotiation mandate on 13 October 2016.
Following extensive work under the Netherlands and Slovak presidencies and four trilogues during the Maltese presidency, the Council reached an agreement with the European Parliament on 26 April 2017.
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-Outcome of the Council meeting