|
Ireland and the United Kingdom are not fully in line with
EU gas market rules, according to the EU Commission.
The Commission said it has decided to refer
both States to the Court of Justice of the European
Union to resolve the issue and force them to comply.
According to EU gas rules, the maximum interconnection capacity
between Member States and between different gas transmission
systems must be offered to the market so that consumers can
fully benefit from competition on the market.
Only when interruptible reverse flow capacity and short-term
services (short term contracts to book gas capacity) are offered,
can pipelines be used to their maximum capacity, the Commission
said.
This means that more gas can be transported and new companies
can enter the market. This will give consumers the possibility
to choose between different companies and services.
The maximum interconnection capacity is not offered in the
UK and Ireland as the pipeline connecting Northern Ireland
and Ireland is not open to the market, it said.
This means that gas companies in Ireland cannot directly
trade gas with Northern Ireland or vice versa. On the pipeline
connecting Scotland to Northern Ireland, short-term services
are not available and neither is virtual reverse flow capacity
based on netting off physical forward flow to make capacity
available for commercial trade as required by EU longstanding
legislation.
The Commission stated - "The Commission is aware that the
UK and Irish governments intend to introduce Common Arrangements
for Gas (CAG) between Ireland and Northern Ireland. While
the Commission welcomes such steps to create cross-border
market, this project has already been delayed. Therefore,
the Commission has decided to proceed with these infringement
procedures in accordance with the EU law."
|
