Eurogas notes with concern recent initiatives by Member States to introduce charges at cross-border points to recover the costs incurred for the emergency storage filling of 2022.
Allocating costs incurred to meet the EU’s supply security targets to cross-border tariffs will inevitably increase the cost of gas imports in adjacent markets further downstream. It will encourage if not force these markets to implement similar measures, ultimately fragmenting the integrated EU energy market and with consequences for other sectors, notably on industrial consumers and gas fired power plants. Contradicting the spirit of EU regulations and the principle of solidarity, such measures would eventually undermine the REPowerEU ambitions to divert from Russian gas.
Eurogas recommends urgently reconsidering recent proposals and existing measures taken in reaction to the crisis to avoid the fragmentation of the EU market. The current regulatory framework provides a clear message about the impact of the measures being considered at national level. Eurogas strongly supports the investigation currently undertaken by ACER. We additionally call on the European Commission to promptly provide guidance publicly on the implementation of storage neutrality charges to avoid further market distortions and to overcome the current ones, supporting and guiding Member States in their recovery of the costs incurred in 2022.
Read our open letter here for more details: [PDF]
