Premium
Romania was given a postponement to respond to the European Commission regarding the infringement procedure opened in early March for the incorrect implementation of the Gas Directive; the deadline is May 25, said vice-president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority Zoltan Nagy-Bege, attending the WindEurope Conference & Exhibition in Bilbao.
Read also: Deputies' Chamber rejects simple motion against Transport Minister
"An infringement procedure against Romania was voted on March 7 for failing to correctly implement the Gas Directive, for which we have already started talks with the Energy Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even with the Commission, and we obtained a postponement. Meanwhile, I think the government of Romania has given a fairly important signal, scrapping the cap for non-household consumers, which - in my personal opinion - was the most sensitive point in the letter of formal notice received from the Commission regarding the breach of the Gas Directive," said Zoltan Nagy-Bege.
The European Commission has decided to send Romania a letter of formal notice for failure to correctly implement certain requirements of the Gas Directive (Directive 2009/73/CE) and the Security of Gas Supply Regulation (EU Regulation 2017/1938), the EU Executive said in a release on March 7.
This is the first step of the infringement procedure. The notified states have two months to answer the Commission.
According to the EC, the two directives aim to ensure competitiveness on the EU gas markets, while ensuring the safe supply of households and other clients requiring special protection.
The Romanian government decided in December 2018, through Emergency Ordinance No. 114 on fiscal-budgetary measures, to cap the gas price at 68 lei/MWh for the next three years for all household consumers. The price for industrial consumers will also be capped but it will be a mix of the 68 lei price for industrial consumers, the import price and the storage cost.
On March 29, 2019 the government decided to amend OUG No. 114/2018 so as to cap the domestic gas price at 68 lei per MWh only for household consumers and district heating plants that supply heat to households, Energy Minister Anton Anton announced at the end of the government sitting on that day.
AGERPRES .
