Activities of Xabier BENITO ZILUAGA related to 2016/0030(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Measures to safeguard the security of gas supply (debate) ES
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and repealing Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 PDF (1 MB) DOC (230 KB)
Amendments (32)
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Natural gas (gas) remains an essential component of the energy supply of the Unionfor few Member States. A large proportion of such gas is imported into the Union from third countries.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) The European Union is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80- 95% below 1990 levels by 2050 and to holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ºC above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ºC. To reach this objectives, 80% of the world's known fossil fuels reserves need to stay in the ground. Therefore this objectives will require to organise an important phase-out of oil, coal and gas during the next 35 years.
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 b (new)
Recital 1 b (new)
(1b) Gas highly contributes to climate change due to the significant amount of methane leaked all along its lifecycle. Therefore, it does not represent a low- carbon energy sources.
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 c (new)
Recital 1 c (new)
(1c) Access to affordable energy is a basic social right and energy poverty must be tackled.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 d (new)
Recital 1 d (new)
(1d) As the gas accounts for almost 50% of the EU´s primary energy consumption for heating and cooling, of which 80% is used in buildings, Member States should primarily focus on energy efficiency measures, particularly in the buildings, in order to reduce gas demand and thus EU dependence on foreign suppliers.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6 a (new)
Recital 6 a (new)
(6a) Energy efficiency measures has a fundamental role to play towards a secure energy system. Reduced gas consumption should be a priority to insure Europe's energy sovereignty and secure gas supply.
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) An internal gas market that operates smoothlysupervised by national regulatory authorities is the best guarantee of security of energy supply across the Union and to reduce the exposure of individual Member States to the harmful effects of supply disruptions. Where a Member State's security of supply is threatened, there is a risk that measures developed unilaterally by that Member State may jeopardise the proper functioning of the internal gas market and damage the gas supply to customers in oTo allow ther Members States. To allow the internal gas market to function even in the face of to cope with a shortage of supply, provision must be made for solidarity and coordination in the response to supply crises, as regards both preventive action and the reaction to actual disruptions of supply.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The infrastructure standard should oblige Member States to maintain a minimum level of infrastructure such as to ensure a degree of redundancy in the system in the event of a disruption of the single largest infrastructure. As an analysis by reference to the N-1 indicator constitutes a purely capacity-based- approach, the results of N-1 should be complemented with a detailed analysis that also captures gas flowslimit redundancy and also take in consideration gas consumption's trends (The European gas demand has declined by 14% since 2000 and by 23% since 2010) and impacts of energy efficiency policies (the European Union gas imports fall by 2.6% for every 1% improvement in energy efficiency according to COM(2014)520) in order to limit the risk of stranded assets and a new carbon lock- in.
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The Regulation lays down security of supply standards that are sufficiently harmonised and cover at least the situation that occurred in January 2009 when gas supply from Russia was disrupted. These standards take account of the difference between Member States, public service obligations and customer protection measures, as referred to in Article 3 of Directive 2009/73/EC. Security of supply standards should be stable, so as to provide the necessary legal certainty, should be clearly defined, and should not impose unreasonable and disproportionate burdens on natural gas undertakings. They should also guarantee equal access for the Union natural gas undertakings to national customers.
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22 a (new)
Recital 22 a (new)
(22a) The complementarity of European gas and electricity systems and demand side management can significantly improve European resilience and energy security and at the same time support the development of renewable energies.
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) The roles and responsibilities of all natural gas undertakings and competent authorities should therefore be defined precisely in order to keep the internal gas market functioning properlyunder the supervision of national regulatory authorities, particularly in the event of supply disruptions and crises. Such roles and responsibilities should be established in such a way as to ensure that a three-level approach is respected which would involve first the relevant natural gas undertakings and industry, then Member States at national or regional level, and then the Union. This Regulation should enable natural gas undertakings and customers to rely on market mechanisms for as long as possible when coping with disruptions. However, it should alsoas a priority provide for mechanisms that can be deployed when markets alone are no longer able to deal adequately with a gas supply disruption.
Amendment 263 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) In the event of a supply crisis, market playernational regulatory authorities should be given sufficient opportunity to respond to the situation with market-based measures. Where market measures have been exhausted and they. Where market measures are still insufficient, Member States and their competent authorities should take measures to remove or mitigate the effects of the supply crisis.
Amendment 271 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Demand-side measures, such as reducing heating and cooling demand in buildings by coordinated energy efficiency measures, fuel switching or reducing the gas supply to large industrial consumers in an economically efficient order, may have a valuable role to play in ensuring energy security, if they can be applied quickly and significantly reduce demand in response to a supply disruption. More should be done to promote efficient energy use, particularly where demand-side measures are needed. The environmental impact of any demand and supply-side measures proposed must be taken into account, with preference being given, as far as possible, to measures that have least impact on the environment. At the same time, security of supply and competitiveness aspects must be taken into account as a priority. Environmental assessment of each new gas infrastructures must be conducted.
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) The preventive action plans and emergency plans should be updated regularly and published. They should be subject to peer review. The peer review process allows for early identification of inconsistencies and measures that could endanger other Member States' security of supply, thereby ensuring that plans from different regions are consistent with one another. It also enables Member States to share best practice. The plans should be coherent with the EU energy and climate targets on greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and renewable energy. The plans should be regularly updated in order to ensure their coherence with those objectives.
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42 a (new)
Recital 42 a (new)
(42a) The Commission should take into account the political situations of the third countries suppliers of gas. The respect of democratic and environmental standards and human rights should guide the external energy policy of the European Union and Member States.
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1
Article 1
This Regulation establishes provisions aimed at safeguarding the security of gas supply by ensuring the proper and continuous functioning of the internal market in natural gas ("gas"), by allowing for exceptional measures to be implemented when the market can no longer deliver the required gas supplies and by providing for a clear definition and attribution of responsibilities among natural gas undertakings, the Member States and the Union regarding both preventive action and the reaction to concrete disruptions of supply. This Regulation also provides transparent mechanisms, in a spirit of solidarity, for the coordination of planning for, and response to, an emergency at Member State, regional and Union levels. Whenever possible, sustainable measures will be preferred over the construction of new gas infrastructures.
Amendment 352 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 1 – introductory part
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 1 – introductory part
(1) 'protected customer’ means a household customer connected to a gas distribution network, including household in situation of energy exclusion, and, in addition, where the Member State concerned so decides, may also mean one or more of the following:
Amendment 368 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 1 a (new)
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 1 a (new)
(1a) "Energy security" means a way to make the EU less reliant on external energy supplies, specially reducing the internal demand through energy efficiency measures and increasing internal production via the development of renewable energy.
Amendment 377 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 2
Article 2 – subparagraph 2 – point 2
(2) ‘essential social service' means a healthcare, and emergency or security service;
Amendment 385 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6
Article 3 – paragraph 6
6. The measures to ensure the security of supply contained in the preventive action plans and in the emergency plans shall be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory and, verifiable, shall not unduly distort competition and the effective functioning of the internal market in gas and compatible with 2030 and 2050 climate objectives, shall be demand- based and not supply-based, and shall not endanger the security of gas supply of other Member States or of the Union as a whole.
Amendment 418 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 5
Article 4 – paragraph 5
5. National regulatory authorities shall take into account the efficiently incurred costs of fulfilling the obligation set out in paragraph 1, including how energy efficiency measures to reduce gas demand may contribute to the more sustainable approach to fulfilling the N-1 formula, and the costs of enabling permanent bi- directional capacity so as to grant appropriate incentives when fixing or approving, in a transparent and detailed manner, the tariffs or methodologies in accordance with Article 41(8) of Directive 2009/73/EC and Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.
Amendment 429 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The competent authority shall require the natural gas undertakings, that it identifies, to take measures, in close collaboration with electricity undertakings to ensure the supply of gasenergy to the protected customers of the Member State in each of the following cases:
Amendment 443 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
The competent authority shall identify the natural gas and electricity undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph and specify them in the preventive action plan. Any new measures envisaged to ensure the supply standard shall comply with the procedure established in Article 8(4).
Amendment 489 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c – point ii a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c – point ii a (new)
(iia) including electricity systems which can be also used as a complementarity solution to transport electricity powered by gas;
Amendment 517 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The competent authorities of the Member States of each region as listed in Annex I, after consulting the natural gas and electricity undertakings, the relevant organisations representing the interests of household and industrial gas customers, including electricity producers, the national environmental agency, and the national regulatory authorities, where they are not the competent authorities, shall establish jointly:
Amendment 525 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) a sustainable preventive action plan containing the measures, including energy efficiency measures, to be adopted to remove or mitigate the risks identified in the region, including risks of purely national dimension, in accordance with the risk assessment undertaken pursuant to Article 6 and in accordance with Article 8; and
Amendment 530 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) an emergency plan containing the measures, including demand-side management measures, through coordination with the electricity authorities, to be taken to remove or mitigate the impact of a gas supply disruption in the region, including events of purely national dimension, in accordance with Article 9.
Amendment 559 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point c
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point c
Amendment 566 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point e a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point e a (new)
(ea) is not in line with the EU climate and energy targets.
Amendment 613 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 4 – point d
Article 8 – paragraph 4 – point d
Amendment 627 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point a
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 – point a
Amendment 765 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
1. A Gas Coordination Group is established to facilitate the coordination of measures concerning security of gas supply. The Group shall be composed of representatives of the Member States, in particular of their competent authorities, as well as the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (the "Agency"), the ENTSO for Gas and Electricity and representative bodies of the industry concerned, and those of relevant customers and environmental protection authorities. The Commission shall, in consultation with the Member States, decide on the composition of the Group, ensuring it is fully representative. The Commission shall chair the Group. The Group shall adopt its rules of procedure.