EU member states have put forward a fourth working draft of proposed amendments to the bloc's gas storage regulations, introducing leeway for a deviation of up to 10 percentage points (pp) from the 1 November target.
The new document builds on the previous version of proposed amendments published in late March, and goes further with flexibility allowances for member states by introducing the possibility of deviating by up to 10pp from the 90pc 1 November target in case of "unfavourable market conditions, such as indications of possible market manipulations, or of trading activities hindering cost-effective storage filling, that significantly limit the ability to ensure that the gas storages are filled in accordance with this regulation". The previous version of proposals had only allowed for a 5pp deviation.
The flexibility would also be extended to member states with derogations, with the five countries who have a 1 November target equivalent to 35pc of annual consumption having an allowed deviation of 3.88pp, while countries without their own storage who are obliged to store 15pc of average annual consumption abroad may deviate by 1.66pp.
The previous clause stating that Germany and Austria must share responsibility for filling the cross-border facilities of Haidach and 7Fields would be replaced by a new clause instead specifying that Slovakia and the Czech Republic will share joint responsibility for filling the Dolni Bojanovice facility on the latter's territory, which has since April begun operating as a cross-border storage. The two states must decide on the ratio of filling responsibilities based on a bilateral agreement between them. The intergovernmental agreement between Germany and Austria on the filling of Haidach and 7Fields expires at the end of 2025.
Intermediary targets, referred to as the ‘filling trajectory', would also explicitly be made "indicative" only, while the 1 November target, referred to as the ‘filling target', could instead be reached at any point between 1 October and 1 December. Once 90pc is reached in this period, it does not need to be maintained afterwards. These terms are consistent with the previous version from late March.
Other important changes also remain the same as those previously proposed. One amendment allows a further 5pp leeway on top of the 10pp already allowed if a member state's gas production exceeds annual consumption over the previous two years, or if "specific technical characteristics" of an individual facility above 40TWh of capacity located on its territory require a "slow injection rate" causing an "exceptionally long" injection period of more than 115 days. The only storages above 40TWh are Germany's Rehden and the Netherlands' Norg and Bergermeer, while Denmark is the only country that nears having larger production than consumption, although the previous two years' data do not quite reach this. The European Commission would also be empowered to adopt delegated acts to further increase the allowed deviation for one filling season in case of "persistent unfavourable market conditions", provided that the security of supply of the union and member states is not "undermined".
Member states using any of the flexibility provided for above shall "consult the commission and provide justification immediately", the proposal says. The commission will then "promptly update" the Gas Coordination Group (GCG) on the cumulative effects of all granted flexibilities in a "timely manner".
The new document also maintains that the commission should continuously monitor the market and explore ways to help meet the filling target, "for example measures of financial nature, in particular when using demand aggregation and joint purchasing mechanism".
Where a member state fails to meet its filling target in a given year, its competent authority shall "take effective measures to ensure security of supply considering the price impact on the gas market", and is required to inform the commission and GCG "without delay".
The proposed amendments to the legal text note that the regulation will come into force on the day following its publication in the EU's official law journal, although it is unclear whether this will apply to the filling trajectory and target for 2025 or not. The European Parliament's energy committee debated the proposals ahead of a vote on 24 April, and chairman Borys Budka says he expects a compromise on amendments in the coming days.
