Gas infrastructure will be key to achieve the Objectives of the Energy Union

February 25, 2015

GIE welcomes the publication of the “Energy Union” concept released today by the European Commission and considers this is a good starting point for discussions on concrete measures.

The European energy market faces enormous challenges in the short and medium term. Therefore GIE welcomes the efforts by the European Commission to work on creating an Energy Union which should be instrumental to achieving the energy and climate policy objectives.

The requisite to achieve security of supply goes via the achievement of a well-integrated and well-diversified internal energy market. Gas infrastructure (“the hardware”) is therefore an essential requisite to achieve this target.

The full implementation of the existing EU rules, together with the upcoming network codes (“the software”) will further increase trading, price convergence and liquidity within the EU, increasing the attractiveness for gas producers both from outside and inside the EU. Gas infrastructure operators will further intensify their cooperation with electricity operators to take duly account of the increasing interactions between both sectors. Therefore, GIE considers that any new top-down arrangements – e.g. regional operational centres in gas – or a new tailored regulatory framework to achieve this are not required.

Jean-Claude Depail, GIE President, said: “Gas infrastructure operators want to contribute to the further development of the Energy Union. Today we have a robust system which can transport large amounts of energy. In that sense Europe already has an “Energy Highway” which can also be used for gas from renewable sources. Therefore we are convinced that gas infrastructure will be the backbone of the new innovative energy system, allowing European citizens to benefit from a secure, efficient and sustainable energy supply.”

The full position paper of GIE on the Energy Union is available on its website at www.gie.eu .

Note to editors

Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) is an association representing the interests of European natural gas infrastructure operators active in natural gas transmission, storage and LNG regasification. GIE is a trusted partner of European institutions, regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders. It is based in Brussels, the heart of European policymaking.

GIE currently represents 68 member companies from 25 countries. Its internal structure has three columns corresponding to the three types of infrastructure activities represented: GTE (Gas Transmission Europe), GSE (Gas Storage Europe) and GLE (Gas LNG Europe), all of which fall under the umbrella of GIE. This structure allows member companies to speak with one voice on infrastructure topics as well as to build positions on column-specific issues.

To find out more about GIE’s structure and activities, please visit our website at www.gie.eu .