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Document 02022R1369-20230401
Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas
Consolidated text: Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas
Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas
02022R1369 — EN — 01.04.2023 — 001.001
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas (OJ L 206 8.8.2022, p. 1) |
Amended by:
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Official Journal |
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L 93 |
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31.3.2023 |
COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/1369
of 5 August 2022
on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas
Article 1
Subject matter and scope
This Regulation establishes rules to address a situation of severe difficulties in the supply of gas, with a view to safeguarding Union security of gas supply, in a spirit of solidarity. Those rules include improved coordination, monitoring of and reporting on national gas demand-reduction measures and the possibility for the Council to declare, on a proposal from the Commission, a Union alert as a Union-specific crisis level, triggering a mandatory Union-wide demand-reduction obligation.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
‘competent authority’ means a national governmental authority or a national regulatory authority designated by a Member State to ensure the implementation of the measures provided for in Regulation (EU) 2017/1938;
‘Union alert’ means a Union-specific crisis level triggering a mandatory demand reduction and which is not related to any of the crisis levels pursuant to Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938;
‘gas consumption’ means the overall supply of natural gas for activities on the territory of a Member State, including the final consumption of households, industry and electricity generation, but excluding, inter alia, gas used to fill storage capacities, in line with the definition for ‘supply, transformation and consumption of gas’ used by the Commission (Eurostat);
‘feedstock’ means ‘non-energy use of natural gas’ as referred to in energy balances calculations by the Commission (Eurostat);
‘reference gas consumption’ means the volume of a Member State’s average gas consumption during the reference period; for Member States where gas consumption increased at least by 8 % in the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 compared to the average gas consumption during the reference period, ‘reference gas consumption’ means only the volume of gas consumption in the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022;
‘reference period’ means the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022;
‘intermediate target’ means the intermediate target as set out in Annex Ia to Regulation (EU) 2017/1938.
Article 3
Voluntary demand reduction
Member States shall use their best efforts to reduce their gas consumption in the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 at least by 15 % compared to their average gas consumption in the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022 (‘voluntary demand reduction’). Articles 6, 7 and 8 shall apply to those voluntary demand-reduction measures.
Article 4
Declaration of a Union alert by the Council
Article 5
Mandatory demand reduction in the event of a Union alert
Article 6
Measures to achieve the demand reduction
Member States shall be free to choose the appropriate measures to reduce demand. The measures referred to in Articles 3 and 5 shall be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory and verifiable. When selecting the measures, Member States shall take into account the principles set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/1938. The measures shall, in particular:
not unduly distort competition or the proper functioning of the internal market in gas;
not endanger the security of gas supply of other Member States or of the Union;
comply with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 as regards protected customers.
When taking demand-reduction measures, Member States shall consider prioritising measures affecting customers other than protected customers, as defined in Article 2, point 5, of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938, and may also exclude those customers from such measures on the basis of objective and transparent criteria which shall take into account their economic importance as well as, among others, the following elements:
the impact of a disruption on supply chains that are critical for society;
the possible negative impacts in other Member States, in particular on supply chains of downstream sectors that are critical for society;
the potential long-lasting damage to industrial installations;
the possibilities for reducing consumption and substituting products in the Union.
Article 7
Coordination of demand-reduction measures
Article 8
Monitoring and enforcement
Member States may include in their reporting a breakdown of gas consumption per sector, including gas consumption for the following sectors:
gas input for electricity and heat generation;
gas consumption in industry;
gas consumption in households and services.
For the purpose of this paragraph, the definitions and statistical conventions established in Regulation (EC) 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ) shall apply.
The GCG shall assist the Commission in the monitoring of the voluntary and mandatory demand reduction.
Article 9
Review
By ►M1 1 March 2024 ◄ , the Commission shall carry out a review of this Regulation in view of the general situation of gas supply to the Union and present a report on the main findings of that review to the Council. Based on that report, the Commission may in particular propose to prolong the period of application of this Regulation.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
( 1 ) Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on energy statistics (OJ L 304, 14.11.2008, p. 1).