Gas supply security in the EU

KEY POINTS

Security of gas supply is the shared responsibility of natural gas companies, Member States and the European Commission. The main elements of the regulation are the following.

• It encourages better cooperation and coordination between regional groups of Member States to assess common supply risks and to develop and agree on joint preventive and emergency measures. In certain exceptional situations, amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 allows Member States to decide to take temporary measures to reduce the non-essential gas consumption of protected customers. These temporary measures would only be introduced after a detailed assessment by the competent authorities.
• It introduces the solidarity mechanism, through which Member States must help each other to always guarantee gas supply to the most vulnerable consumers – even in severe gas supply situations – under fair compensation conditions by the Member State receiving assistance. Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 introduces a new article setting out rules for cooperation between indirectly connected Member States using market-based measures (voluntary measures).
• It increases transparency by obliging gas companies to notify their national authority of their major long-term gas supply contracts that may be relevant for security of supply.
• The European Network of Transmission System Operators will carry out a further EU-wide simulation of gas supply and infrastructure disruption scenarios by 1 November 2026.
• Member States have specific obligations to the Energy Community, with the Commission coordinating the legal rules.
• Following the escalation of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine and the need to secure the EU’s gas reserves, amending legislation required underground gas storage on Member States’ territory to be filled to at least 80 % of its capacity before the winter of 2022/2023 and to 90 % before the winter periods in subsequent years. The aim was for the EU to collectively fill 85 % of the total underground gas storage capacity in the EU in 2022. A storage filling target of 90 % until 31 December 2025 was agreed in 2022.
• In recognising variations in gas storage capacities and national situations, Member States are able to partially meet the storage target by counting stocks of liquefied natural gas or alternative fuels. For Member States with very large storage capacities compared to their domestic gas consumption, the filling obligation for underground stocks was limited to a volume corresponding to 35 % of the average annual gas consumption over the previous five years.
• To strengthen their security of supply, Member States without storage facilities can store 15 % of their annual domestic gas consumption in stocks located in other Member States and thus have access to gas reserves stored in other Member States. An exception was granted to Ireland, Cyprus and Malta for as long as they are not directly interconnected with the gas systems of other Member States.
• Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 requires Member States to consider appropriate measures relating to cybersecurity when drawing up their preventive action plans and emergency plans. The Commission will adopt a delegated act setting sector-specific rules for the cybersecurity aspects of cross-border gas flows, including rules on common minimum requirements, planning, monitoring, reporting and crisis management. Moreover, the amendment will operationalise and extend the solidarity mechanism, which ensures that Member States will provide each other with solidarity gas even in case of a severe emergency, by guaranteeing that a set of standard rules apply when Member States have not signed bilateral agreements.

Repeal

The regulation repeals Regulation (EU) No 994/2010.