MEPs back looser rules for filling gas storage sites

Strasbourg/Brussels, 8 May (CTK correspondent) - MEPs today approved looser rules for filling gas storage sites ahead of winter. They backed a similar decision by EU member states, which fear the bloc’s current binding rules are driving up gas prices. The EU Council and the European Parliament will now negotiate a final compromise.

The proposal was backed by 425 of the 574 MEPs present, while 106 voted against. Forty-three members of the European Parliament abstained.

Eight Czech MEPs backed the proposal: five from the largest group, the European People’s Party (EPP) — Luděk Niedermayer and Ondřej Kolář (TOP 09), Danuše Nerudová and Jan Farský (STAN), and Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL) — and three from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group: Ondřej Krutílek, Alexandr Vondra and Veronika Vrecionová (ODS). Three Czech MEPs voted against: non-attached members Ondřej Dostál and Kateřina Konečná (Stačilo!) and Motorists MEP Filip Turek (Patriots for Europe).

Nine Czech MEPs abstained. They included all seven representatives elected for the ANO movement from the Patriots for Europe group, Nikola Bartůšek, who stood for Přísaha (also in Patriots for Europe), and Ivan David, elected for SPD and a member of the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group. Czech Pirate MEP Markéta Gregorová did not take part in the vote because she is in Ukraine.

Gas storage targets were introduced in 2022 after Russia cut gas supplies following its invasion of Ukraine. The storage sites are intended to ensure EU countries have fuel reserves for the winter months, when demand for gas for heating peaks.

MEPs approved the European Commission’s proposal to extend the EU’s 2022 gas storage scheme until 31 December 2027; otherwise, it would expire at the end of this year. The provision is intended to ensure security of gas supply ahead of the winter season.

However, MEPs put forward several proposals aimed at easing pressure on the gas market, as speculation surrounding the current mandatory target of filling storage to 90 percent by 1 November each year was driving up the cost of replenishing stocks over the summer. They therefore propose lowering the filling target from 90 percent to 83 percent, to be reached at any time between 1 October and 1 December each year.

Member states could also deviate by up to four percentage points from the filling target in the event of adverse market conditions, such as supply disruptions or high demand. The Commission could then increase the deviation by a further four percentage points if those market conditions persist.

The proposal backed by the European Parliament was also supported by Martin Hojsík, a Slovak MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament from the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, who belongs to the liberal Renew Europe group. “The European Parliament is proposing a lower mandatory volume of gas in storage, which will ease pressure on prices,” he said.

According to Czech MEP Ondřej Krutílek (ODS, ECR group), the gas crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine “clearly showed that we need to secure sufficient supplies before the heating season so we don’t freeze in winter”. “At the same time, we need gas at a reasonable price. So it is good that we have removed the interim targets for filling storage sites,” he added.

“It is very important that Europe was able to protect its citizens when Russia was using gas as a means of blackmail,” Polish MEP Borys Budka of the European People’s Party (EPP), the proposal’s rapporteur, said during Wednesday’s debate. According to him, the European Parliament wants to “ensure greater flexibility and less bureaucracy, but above all lower gas prices in Europe”.

MEPs will now begin negotiations with the Polish presidency of the EU Council. The first round of talks is scheduled for 13 May.