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The focus is on the revision of the Security of Gas Supply Regulation – which aims to safeguard the supply of gas in crisis situations. There are also new strategies to regulate the supply of the EU with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the use of gas storage facilities, and to boost energy efficiency on the heating and cooling market.

From national to regional

Central elements for energy security in the European Union are "a functioning internal market, higher energy efficiency and diversification of the types, sources and routes of energy supply, coupled with an ongoing increase in renewables," said Rainer Baake, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, in response to the proposals. He welcomed the fact that the Commission is sticking to its market-based approach to gas crisis prevention. Regional cooperation is becoming more and more important not only in the field of electricity, but also in the gas sector. "In this context, we must identify types of cooperation that are fit for purpose, reflect the market realities in Europe and actually improve Europe's gas security," said Baake.

A large proportion of the gas needed in Europe is imported from outside the EU, causing the European Commission to emphasise that the EU needs to become better equipped to cope with any disruption to the gas supply. It is important to have greater transparency on the gas market, says the Commission, proposing a shift from a national to a regional approach to energy security. This envisages the emergence of new regional clusters in which neighbouring states cooperate and help one another.

Read the specific proposals by the Commission here.

Energy security – a key pillar of the future Energy Union

At the same time, we can relax and enjoy the frosty winter temperatures here in Germany: the country has the largest gas storage capacities in the EU and the fourth largest in the world. And, as is shown clearly by the example of the twelve “electricity neighbours”, cross-border cooperation on energy is already well-established in the case of electricity.

The proposals are supplemented by an overarching “EU strategy on heating and cooling” from the European Commission, which is the first EU initiative to take a holistic look at the heating and cooling market. The strategy contains a range of options and ideas to strengthen the European heating and cooling market. “As regards the heating and cooling market, the European Commission is right to underline the need for both increased energy efficiency and the expansion of renewables, since the most efficient solutions cannot be found without implementing both aspects,” commented State Secretary Rainer Baake.

The strategy will also influence the revisions of the European Energy Efficiency Directive, the Performance of Buildings Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive – all three are due before the end of the year. Each of these pieces of legislation will take appropriate account of the heating and cooling market alongside the electricity market. Given its 50 per cent-plus share of European final energy consumption, the heating and cooling market is particularly important in terms of attaining the EU’s energy and climate targets.

Energy security is one of the key pillars of the strategy for an Energy union which is intended to pave the way towards a coherent EU energy policy. The European Commission published an initial interim review of this at the end of last year.