Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 on the internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen (recast)

Ce que fait l'acte

to present an ambitious transition of the gas sector towards low-carbon and renewable gases by revising the internal markets for renewable and natural gases and for hydrogen. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the European Green Deal puts the EU on a path to climate neutrality by 2050, which requires significantly higher shares of renewable energy sources in an integrated energy system. Currently, natural gas represents 95% of the gaseous fuels consumed in the EU and accounts for 25% of the EU’s total energy consumption. While the share of natural gas will decrease progressively, biomethane, synthetic methane and hydrogen are expected to become more relevant. However, these alternatives to natural gas face a number of regulatory barriers and are not covered by current energy security arrangements. The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Jerzy BUZEK (EPP, PL) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the internal markets for renewable and natural gases and for hydrogen (recast). As a reminder, in line with the REpowerEU targets, by the end of 2030, Member States should ensure collectively at least 35 billion cubic meters of sustainable biomethane. This would be produced and injected into the natural gas system, annually, with the aim of replacing 20% of Russian natural gas imports with a sustainable, cheaper and locally produced alternative. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: - sets non-discriminatory rules for access conditions to natural gas and hydrogen systems taking into account the special characteristics of national and regional markets with a view to ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market in gas as well as to contribute to the long-term flexibility of the electricity system; - encourages preventive measures reducing fossil gas demand through the implementation of the energy efficiency first principle leading to energy savings, increased direct electrification as part of a fully integrated energy system, and increased use of renewable sources of energy, and contributes to the prudent and rational use of natural resources and the achievement of the Union’s climate and energy targets; and - facilitates the emergence of a well-functioning and transparent wholesale market with a high level of security of supply in gas and provides mechanisms to harmonise the network access rules for cross-border exchanges in gas. To safeguard the security of energy supply and the essential security interests of the Union in line with the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan, the committee suggested that Member States should diversify their gas supplies and ensure that imports of natural gas as well as of renewable gas and low-carbon gas through pipelines and LNG terminals do not originate from the Russian Federation.…