EU Moves Toward Early Scrutiny of Members' Energy Deals With Third Countries
December 07 2016 - 1:50PM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—The European Parliament and European Union member
states agreed on Wednesday on new proposals giving the bloc's
executive arm the power to scrutinize natural gas and oil deals in
advance, a move to help the EU secure and diversify energy
supplies.
The proposals were launched in February by the European
Commission and would allow it to ensure oil and gas deals between
EU member states and outside governments conform to EU rules,
including those aimed at preventing big gas producers, such as
Russia's PAO Gazprom and other energy giants, from owning the
distribution networks in the EU.
The proposals still must be formally approved and come as the
bloc is seeking to curtail its dependence on Russian energy
supplies following the conflict in Ukraine.
The agreement only applies to contracts signed between EU
governments and third countries, not deals struck by private
companies.
A key point of contention has been whether to allow the
Commission to scrutinize only gas contracts or also other energy
deals. In the end, member states bent to pressure from EU lawmakers
to allow oil contracts also to be submitted for a pre-check in
Brussels.
Under the proposed agreement, EU governments would notify the EU
of their draft intergovernmental oil and gas deals and couldn't
sign the deals until the Commission has rendered its opinion.
Member states would be committed to taking into account the
Commission's opinion, although the EU executive would have no
direct veto powers. Agreements related to electricity wouldn't be
prescreened in Brussels, though the contracts would have to be
shown to the Commission once they are signed.
Russia provides about one-third of the EU's total natural gas
needs and has a monopoly in some countries. The conflict in
Ukraine, the resulting economic sanctions on Russia and EU
antitrust charges against Gazprom have intensified that effort,
although not without some resistance in some countries.
European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic on
Wednesday said renegotiating energy contracts between governments
once they are concluded has proven very cumbersome.
"Today's agreement ensures that rather than assessing whether
international agreements comply with EU law after they are signed,
member states will now do so in advance. This is a big political
and legislative achievement," he said.
-Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 13:35 ET (18:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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