The European Union could force the Russian Gazprom group to sell its gas storage facilities in Germany and other member states. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson struck in Brussels on Wednesday Gas Storage Ordinance that provides for such a possibility. The EU law requires that national supervisory authorities have to check in future whether the operators of the storage facilities pose a risk to the security of supply – for example because the companies are under the influence of hostile states. If the supervisors refuse to certify the operator as a trustworthy provider, he must relinquish control of the strategically important warehouses. Gazprom’s storage facilities were suspiciously low last fall.
In order to prevent this in the future, the Brussels draft law prescribes minimum filling levels for all storage systems. At the beginning of November, the warehouses must be 80 percent full this year, and even 90 percent full in the coming years. Of the 27 EU countries, 18 have such camps; there are 160 in total. Germany accounts for almost a quarter of the EU-wide capacities. Countries without storage facilities have to store gas with EU partners, at least 15 percent of their annual consumption. Governments can provide financial support to operators to buy enough gas. The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, as the body of the member states, must first agree to the Commission’s draft law.
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The Commission hopes that the law will come into force by late summer. After that, national regulators have 100 days to inspect and certify the owners of key storage sites. The rest of the camps will follow later. A commission official said that Gazprom will certainly be in the first wave – because of the size of the camps and the fact that they were so low filled in the autumn.
In addition, the Brussels authority proposes that the EU countries order natural gas or hydrogen together. The joint ordering of Covid vaccines should serve as a model. The Commission wants to prevent governments from outbidding each other in negotiations with suppliers; the higher purchase quantities should lead to lower prices. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck agreed on an energy partnership with Qatar at the weekend. Such national agreements are still possible, but the Commission also wants to send joint negotiation teams led by it to providers.
Electricity prices, gas prices, food: the EU heads of government have a full agenda
The 27 heads of state and government will also discuss these plans at their summit discussed in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Leaders will also discuss what governments can do to combat high electricity and gas prices in the short term. In preparation, the Commission published a compilationwhich interventions are possible and what their advantages and disadvantages are. The authority also decided the strict to relax subsidy rulesso that governments can more easily support companies suffering from sanctions against Russia or high energy prices.
At the same time, on Wednesday the Commission presented a package of measures to mitigate the consequences of the war on agriculture – in Ukraine and in the EU.
It must be ensured that Ukrainians have enough food, fuel and water, said Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski from Poland. After a meeting of EU agriculture ministers on Monday this week, he reported that the Russian army was targeting agriculture, probably with the aim of provoking famine. The Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture was also connected to the meeting; he had to leave the video conference because of an air raid alarm.
“We will help Ukrainian farmers continue to sow and grow grains and oilseeds they urgently need for themselves and for the world, and to facilitate their exports,” Wojciechowski said on Wednesday. EU sources said wheat was already in the soil in Ukraine, but corn and sunflowers would also have to be sown in the next few weeks. However, there is a lack of seeds, fertilizer, diesel and workers. An emergency program of 330 million euros for Ukraine should help. It was initially unclear how much of this would flow into agriculture alone and how much into other sectors. The war is making access to food beyond Ukraine difficult. For North Africa and the Middle East, the availability and affordability of wheat as a staple food is under threat, the commission estimates.
Farmers in the EU who are suffering from increased prices for feed, energy and fertilizer are to be supported with around 500 million euros. The EU Commission will also allow farmers to temporarily plant crops on nearly 6% of EU farmland set aside to promote biodiversity.