Lead MEP on gas security aims to limit intervention in supply crises, leave market to respond
Author: Peter Koh
2 Dec 09 | 17:26 GMT+1
IN BRIEF
The MEP leading the European Parliament's debate on the proposed security of gas supply regulation wants to limit intervention by European Union governments and institutions in the event of a supply disruption, and leave it to the market to respond. The MEP's initial draft report on the bill also calls for amendments on measures concerning solidarity, bi-directional pipelines, interconnectors, the definition of protected customers and diversification of supplies.
The MEP leading the European Parliament's debate on the proposed security of gas supply regulation wants to limit intervention by European Union governments and institutions in the event of supply disruption, and leave it mainly up to the market to respond.
"The current drafting doesn't fit well with the regulation's objectives," Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the Spanish MEP 'rapporteur' tasked with leading the parliament's debate on the bill, told energy committee members today. "Dealing with a crisis well means using the market. I am trying through my amendments to underscore that non-market measures should be used exclusively as a last resort in extreme circumstances."
Markets should be left to solve problems identified early and market tools should be the instruments of choice used to solve emergency situations, the draft report says.
Currently, the commission's proposal foresees possible intervention by member states in emergency situations, but the definition of what constitutes an emergency is unclear, particularly in situations where supply disruptions may affect only certain member states.
"We have to strengthen the provisions that relate to geographically confined emergencies. There can be locally, extreme situations, which in the general EU point of view might not seem so serious. We must avoid that. We need to focus on these problems with a European perspective, with the principle of European solidarity", Vidal-Quadras said.
On the commission's proposal to require all gas pipelines to be capable delivering gas in both directions, the rapporteur proposed that the requirement be limited to situations in which the measure would actually improve supply security. The blanket measure had been criticised as unnecessary in many cases.
The MEP's draft report also recommends that member states split the cost of interconnectors between them based on the relative benefits they would receive from the projects. This was proposed as a solution to member states' concerns over situations in which building an interconnector between two countries would enhance security of supply in one but not the other.
Vidal-Quadras also proposes the need for a clear, common definition of "vulnerable consumers" because some member states have different ideas over what groups should be included, with some arguing only for relatively poor consumers and others proposing the definition be extended to include small and medium-sized businesses.
On the controversial N-1 criterion, which measures member states' ability to cope with the loss of their single most important piece of gas infrastructure, the MEP told the energy committee that more work needed to be done to clarify technical aspects.
Significantly, the rapporteur has also proposed a new Article on long-term gas supply security. The commission, he says, should bring forward a report on possible ways to diversify the geographical sources of the EU's gas supply, with a particular assessment of the role that liquefied natural gas could play.
The rapporteur's draft report is the basis for the parliament's amendments to the commission's proposed regulation, which needs to be agreed upon by both the parliament and member states in order to become law.
Member states will discuss aspects of the security of gas supply regulation when energy ministers meet in Brussels next Monday, 7 December. Ministers are expected to focus particularly on the "vulnerable customers" definition and on the concept of the commission's N-1 criterion.