Activities of Georgios EPITIDEIOS related to 2016/0030(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Measures to safeguard the security of gas supply (debate) EL
Amendments (18)
Amendment 47 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Certain customers, including households and customers providing essential social services, are particularly vulnerable and may need greater social protection. A definition of such protected customers should not conflict with the Union solidarity mechanisms.
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Responsibility for security of gas supply should be shared by natural gas undertakings, and Member States, acting through their competent authorities; and the Commission, within their respective remits. Such shared responsibility requires very close cooperation between these parties. However, customers using gas for electricity generation or industrial purposes may also have an important role to play in security of gas supply, as they can respond to a crisis by taking demand-side measures such as interruptible contracts and fuel switching, which have an immediate impact on the supply/demand balance.
Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) In order to make the regional cooperation feasible, Member States should establish a cooperation mechanism within each region. Such mechanism or mechanisms should be developed sufficiently in time to allow for conducting the risk assessment and drawing up meaningful plans at regional level. Member States are free to agree on a cooperation mechanism best suited for a given region. The Commission should have a facilitating role in the overall process and share best practises for arranging regional cooperation such as a rotating coordination role within the region for the preparation of the different documents or establishing dedicated bodies. In absence of an agreement on the cooperation mechanism, the Commission may propose a suitable cooperation mechanism for a given region.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) As demonstrated by the October 2014 stress test, sSolidarity is needed to ensure security of supply across the Union and to keep overall costs to a minimum. If an emergency is declared in any Member State, a two-step approach should be applied to strengthen solidarity. Firstly, all Member States which have introduced a higher supply standard should reduce it to default values to make the gas market more liquid. Secondly, if the first step fails to provide the necessary supply, further measures by neighbouring Member States, even if not in an emergency situation, should be triggered to ensure the supply to households, essential social services and district heating installations in the Member State experiencing the emergency. Member States should identify and describe the details of these solidarity measures in their emergency plans, ensuring fair and equitable compensation of the natural gas undertakings.
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
1. Security of gas supply shall be a shared responsibility of natural gas undertakings, Member States, notably through their competent authorities, and the Commission, within their respective areas of activities and competence.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3
Article 3 – paragraph 3
3. Each Member State shall notify to the Commission without delay the name of the competent authority and any changes thereto. Each Member State shall make the name of the competent authority public.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5
Article 3 – paragraph 5
5. The Commission shall, where appropriate and with the agreement of all Member States without exception, coordinate the action of the competent authorities at regional and Union levels, as set out in this Regulation, inter alia, through the Gas Coordination Group referred to in Article 14 or the crisis management group referred to in Article 11(4), in particular in the event of a regional or Union emergency as defined in Article 11(1).
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
The competent authorities within each region shall agree on a cooperation mechanism to conduct the risk assessment within the deadline provided for in paragraph 5 of this Article. Competent authorities shall report to the Gas Coordination Group on the agreed cooperation mechanism for conducting the risk assessment 18 months before the deadline for the adoption of the risk assessment and the updates of the risk assessment. The Commission may have a facilitating role overall in the preparation of the risk assessment, in particular for the establishment of the cooperation mechanism. If competent authorities within a region do not agree on a cooperation mechanism, the Commission may, after consulting the Member States, propose a cooperation mechanism for that region.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 3
Article 6 – paragraph 3
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 5
Article 6 – paragraph 5
5. The risk assessment once agreed by all Member States in the region shall be notified to the Commission for the first timepublished no later than on 1 September 2018. The risk assessment shall be updated every four years unless circumstances warrant more frequent updates. The risk assessment shall take account of progress made in investments needed to cope with the infrastructure standard defined in Article 4 and of country-specific difficulties encountered in the implementation of new alternative solutions. It shall also build on the experience acquired through the simulation of the emergency plans contained in Article 9 (2).
Amendment 125 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 3
3. The preventive action plan and the emergency plan shall be developed in accordance with the templates contained in Annex V. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 18 to amend those templates.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – introductory part
The Commission shall issue an opinion to the competent authorities of the region, after consulting the Member States, with the recommendation to review the relevant preventive action plan or emergency plan if the plan is considered to contain one of the following elements:
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 3
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 3
The adopted measure shall only enter into force when it is approved by the Commission or has been amended in accordance with the Commission decision and in consultation with the Member States.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
3. The emergency plan shall be updated every four years after 1 March 2019, unless circumstances warrant more frequent updates or at the Commission’s request. The updated plan shall reflect the updated risk assessment and the conclusions of the tests carried out in accordance with paragraph 2. Article 7(3) to (7) shall apply to the updated plan.
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 3
Article 10 – paragraph 3
3. When the competent authority declares an emergency, it shall follow the pre-defined action as set out in its emergency plan and shall immediately inform the Commission, the Member States and the competent authorities in the region in particular of the action it intends to take. In duly justified exceptional circumstances, the competent authority may take action deviating from the emergency plan. The competent authority shall immediately inform the Commission and the competent authorities in the region of any such action and shall provide a justification therefore.
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
The Commission shall verify, as soon as possible, but in any case within five days of receiving the information of the competent authority referred to in paragraph 2, whether the declaration of an emergency is justified in accordance with point (c) of paragraph 1 and whether the measures taken follow as closely as possible the actions listed in the emergency plan and are not imposing an undue burden on natural gas undertakings and are in accordance with paragraph 4. The Commission may, at the request of a competent authority, or natural gas undertakings or on its own initiative, request the competent authority to modify the measures where they are contrary to the conditions referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph. The Commission may also request the competent authority to lift the declaration of emergency where it considers, on the basis of supporting evidence, that such declaration is not or no longer justified according to point (c) of paragraph 1.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Article 10 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Within three days of the notification of the Commission request, the competent authority shall modify the measures and notify the Commission thereof, or shall inform the Commission of the reasons for which it does not agree with the request. In that case, the Commission may within three days amend or withdraw its request or, in order to consider the issue, convene the competent authority or, where appropriate, the competent authorities concerned, and, where the Commission deems it necessary, the Gas Coordination Group. The Commission shall set out its detailed reasoning for requesting any changes to the action. The competent authority shall take full account of the position of the Commission. Where the final decision of the competent authority diverges from the Commission position, the competent authority shall provide the reasoning underlying such decision.
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
1. At the request of a competent authority that has declared an emergency and following the verification in accordance with Article 10(5), the Commission may declare a regional or Union emergency. At the request of at least two competent authorities that have declared an emergency and following the verification in accordance with Article 10(5), and where the reasons for these emergencies are linked, the Commission shall, after consulting the responsible authority, declare, as appropriate, a regional or Union emergency. In all cases, the Commission, using the means of communication most appropriate to the situation, shall gather the views of, and take due account of all the relevant information provided by the other competent authorities. When it assesses that the underlying basis for the regional or Union emergency no longer justifies a declaration of emergency, the Commission shall declare an end to the regional or Union emergency. In all cases, the Commission shall give its reasons and inform the Council of its decision.