I want to know about...

29.12.2022

EN

Official Journal of the European Union
L 335/3

13

No requirement should be imposed on natural gas undertakings or undertakings consuming gas to buy gas through the service provider, by concluding gas supply contracts or memoranda of understanding with the gas suppliers or producers that have matched the aggregated demand. However, natural gas undertakings or undertakings consuming gas are strongly encouraged to explore forms of cooperation which are compatible with competition law, and to make use of the service provider to fully reap the benefits of the joint purchasing. A mechanism could, therefore, be developed between the service provider and participating undertakings, setting out the main conditions under which participating undertakings enter into a commitment to buy the gas matching aggregated demand.

14

It is important for the Commission and the Member States to have a clear picture of intended and concluded gas supply contracts across the Union, in order to assess whether the objectives of security of supply and energy solidarity are met. Therefore, undertakings or authorities of Member States should inform the Commission and the Member States in which those undertakings are established of large planned gas purchases above 5 TWh/year. This should in particular apply to basic information regarding new or renewed contracts. The Commission should be allowed to issue recommendations to the natural gas undertakings or authorities of the relevant Member States, in particular where further coordination could improve the functioning of joint purchasing or where the launch of a tender for the purchase of gas or planned gas purchases may have a negative impact on security of supply, the internal market or energy solidarity. The issuing of a recommendation should not prevent natural gas undertakings or authorities of the relevant Member States from proceeding with the negotiations in the meantime.

15

Member States should assist the Commission in assessing whether the relevant gas purchases enhance security of supply in the Union and are compatible with the principle of energy solidarity. Therefore, an ad hoc Steering Board composed of representatives of the Member States and the Commission should be established to help coordinate this assessment.

16

The process of aggregating demand for the purpose of joint purchasing should be carried out by a suitable service provider. Therefore, the Commission should contract a service provider through a procurement procedure in accordance with the Regulation EU, Euratom 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council 1, which is able to develop an appropriate information technology tool IT tool and organise the process of aggregation of demand. Fees could be collected from participants of the joint purchasing to cover operating costs.

17

When allocating access rights to the supply among undertakings aggregating demand, the service provider should apply methods that would not discriminate between smaller and larger participants of the demand aggregation and should be fair regardless of gas volumes requested by individual undertakings. For instance, the service provider should allocate access rights in proportion to the gas volumes that individual undertakings declared to buy for the given delivery time and destination. This might be relevant in cases when supply does not sufficiently cover demand in the Union market.

18

The aggregation of demand and the purchasing of natural gas are complex processes, which need to take into account various elements, which are not limited to prices, but also include volumes, delivery points and other parameters. Therefore, the selected service provider should have the necessary level of experience in managing and aggregating purchases of natural gas or associated services at the Union level. Also, the aggregation of demand and the purchasing of natural gas is a crucial element in ensuring the security of the gas supply and safeguarding the principle of energy solidarity in the Union.

19

The protection of commercially sensitive information is of utmost importance when information is made available to the Commission, the members of the ad hoc Steering Board or the service provider setting up or managing the IT tool for demand aggregation. The Commission should therefore apply effective instruments to protect this
1 Regulation EU, Euratom 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations EU No 1296/2013, EU No 1301/2013, EU No 1303/2013, EU
No 1304/2013, EU No 1309/2013, EU No 1316/2013, EU No 223/2014, EU No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU
and repealing Regulation EU, Euratom No 966/2012 OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1..