The European Union got an initial agreement on new rules to improve its security of natural gas supply just at the time of a new looming crisis, the European Commission said Wednesday.
The European Union got an initial agreement on new rules to improve its
security of natural gas supply just at the time of a new looming crisis, the
European Commission said Wednesday.
European Parliament negotiators and those from member countries reached late
Tuesday a deal on the new rules, which will have to get a green light from the
full Parliament assembly and government representatives before it can become
law.
"This is a very important step," said Marlene Holzner, spokeswoman
for Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.
The commission proposed the new rules less than a year ago, in the wake of a
Ukraine-Russia gas price spat that crippled supply to the EU for weeks in
January 2009.
According to the new agreement, each country will have to prepare an emergency
plan so it would be able to provide gas to "protected
customers"--mainly households and essential services like hospitals--for
at least 30 days, even if supply was heavily disrupted. To do this,
infrastructure will have to be upgraded and countries will have to make sure
gas can flow in both directions within the network, so the flow can be diverted
to help countries whose supply is most threatened.
The EU depends on
Russia
for
about 25% of its gas needs, but some countries, like
Bulgaria
and
Lithuania
, are
currently almost totally dependent on that flow.
Ακολουθήστε το energia.gr στο Google News!Παρακολουθήστε τις εξελίξεις με την υπογραφη εγκυρότητας του energia.gr
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τρι, 1 Ιουλίου 2025 - 07:58
Τρι, 1 Ιουλίου 2025 - 07:55
Δευ, 30 Ιουνίου 2025 - 08:08
Δευ, 30 Ιουνίου 2025 - 08:00
Σαβ, 28 Ιουνίου 2025 - 18:51