What changed

3.6.2022

2.2.2023

Mr CristianSilviu Buşoi

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

ASP 11E102

BRUSSELS

Subject: AGRI opinionOpinion on the Commissiona proposalsProposal for a Regulationregulation of the European Parliament and aof Directivethe Council on gasthe internal markets for renewable and natural gases and for hydrogen markets(recast) (COM(2021)0804 – C90470/2021 – 2021/0424(COD))

Dear Mr Chair,

At their meeting of 2 February 2022, AGRI Coordinators decided to issue an opinion in the form of a letter to the ITRE committee, as lead committee, on the following two Commission proposals:

The Committee on Legal Affairs has examined the proposal referred to above pursuant to Rule 110 on recasting of Parliament's Rules of Procedure.

 Commission proposal for a Regulation on the internal markets for renewable and natural gases and for hydrogen (COM/2021/804 - 2021/0424(COD));

Paragraph 3 of that Rule reads as follows:

 Commission proposal for a Directive on common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and in hydrogen (COM/2021/803 - 2021/0425(COD)).

“If the committee responsible for legal affairs considers that the proposal does not entail any substantive changes other than those identified as such in the proposal, it shall inform the committee responsible for the subject matter thereof.

Overall, AGRI committee has a positive view on both Commission proposals (so-called “Gas Package”) as a much needed and efficient framework to facilitate the access of renewable energy, including sustainable biogas and biomethane, to the distribution and transmission grids. This is all the more important in view of the crisis caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Indeed, the case for a rapid clean energy transition has never been stronger and clearer.

In such a case, over and above the conditions laid down in Rules 180 and 181, amendments shall be admissible within the committee responsible for the subject-matter only if they concern those parts of the proposal which contain changes.

Also importantly, renewable, low carbon and biogases are necessary for the EU to reach the climate targets set in “Fit for 55” and for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors. The Gas Package under consideration also extends the consumer and end-user rights and participation in the internal market. In addition, the AGRI committee considers it particularly important to encourage and support farmers who are already producing sustainable biogas and biomethane or planning to start production both on and off the grid.

However, amendments to parts of the proposal which remain unchanged may, by way of exception and on a case-by-case basis, be accepted by the Chair of the committee responsible for the subject matter if he or she considers that this is necessary for pressing reasons relating to the internal logic of the text or because the amendments are inextricably linked to other admissible amendments. Such reasons must be stated in a written justification to the amendments.”

The AGRI committee stresses the need for synergies with other legislation. In particular, coherence should be ensured between the Gas Package and the RED II Directive (Directive 2018/2001 of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and its revision as RED III). In addition, the AGRI committee asks the ITRE committee, as committee responsible, to take account of the following issues:

Following the here attached opinion of the Consultative Working Party of the Legal Services of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission, which has examined the recast proposal, and in keeping with the recommendations of the Rapporteur, the Committee on Legal Affairs considers that the proposal in question does not include any substantive changes other than those identified as such and that, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier act with those substantive amendments, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing text, without any change in its substance.

 Security of supply:

In conclusion, at its extraordinary meeting of 31 January 2023, the Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously decided to recommend that the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), as the committee responsible, proceed to examine the above proposal in accordance with Rule 110.

Considering the current energy crisis the EU is facing, the Commission proposals under consideration should be revised, as necessary, in view of recent events. In its “REPowerEU” communication of 8 March 2002 (COM(2022)108), the Commission suggests boosting biomethane production to 35bcm by 2030, which is equivalent to 10% of today’s natural gas production. This is more than double the amount outlined in the “Fit for 55” package, whereas the biomethane target represents over 20% of the current EU gas imports from Russia. Achieving this target will requires close cooperation between the Commission, Member States and the entire biomethane value chain. The proposed directive and regulation must take that target into consideration. Together with stakeholders, the Commission should evaluate if further specific regulatory measures are needed to achieve the target. Therefore, the AGRI committee calls on the Commission to prepare an action plan to better make use of the potential of sidestream or waste biomass resources which have no alternative food or feed use, from agriculture and forestry for the production and distribution of biogas and biomethane;

 Linking biogas and biomethane production to agriculture:

 In order to boost the agriculture-based biogas and biomethane production, the Commission should more clearly highlight the role it can play in achieving the set climate targets. In addition, it should ensure that, when possible, all legislative means (RED II, Gas Package, CAP, Emissions Trading System Directive, State aid rules, etc.) support the increased production of sustainable biogas and biomethane in the agriculture segment and acknowledge the multiple benefits it can bring;

 Biogas and biomethane production can diversify farmers' income, generate additional revenue streams and provide opportunities for development and investment in rural areas;

 Non-recyclable agricultural waste (i.e. manure) and residue streams with no alternative food or feed use can be utilised in anaerobic digesters to produce biogas and biomethane. When used for biogas production, such raw materials can effectively contribute towards reducing methane emissions from anaerobic decomposition processes in nature;

 Sustainably produced renewable biogas and biomethane will help decrease emissions (in transport, heating, power production, industry) and the EU’s dependency on fossil fuels;

 Biogas and biomethane production can provide efficient nutrient recycling. Nutrients recovered from this plant digestate can be processed into organic fertilisers in farming or for industrial use, decreasing dependency on fossil fertilisers. This potential should be taken into account also in the CAP Strategic Plans.

Furthermore, the AGRI committee wishes to make the following recommendations as regards the proposed Gas Package:

 A clear definition of biogas and biomethane production separate from natural gas is necessary.

The current definition of natural gas includes both biogas and biomethane. This is problematic since natural gas on one hand and biogas/biomethane on the other are produced differently and the proposed regulation and directive should reflect this;

 Right to inject and cost-sharing:

It is necessary to ensure that farmers would not have to bear all the costs in entering the gas market and the grid. The Gas Package should therefore ensure that it is easy and straightforward for biogas and biomethane producers to inject their production into the gas grid. This can be done by ensuring the 'right to inject' for biogas and biomethane producers, subject to the required quality and safety testing and analysis, as well as cost-sharing between producers and grid operators. Most biogas and biomethane producers are small-scale, therefore bearing all the costs would create a significant barrier for them;

 Support also off-grid biogas production:

A lot of the biogas and biomethane production is off-grid, mainly in agricultural areas lands. Therefore, even though the Gas Package focuses on regulating production on the grid, it is important to take into consideration and ensure that off-grid biogas and biomethane production will receive the same treatment as biogas and biomethane injected to the gas transmission system. For example, the streamlined authorisation procedures proposed in the directive should also be applicable for off-grid production sites. Innovative collection systems should be researched and mainstreamed;

 GHG intensity reduction target of the gas supply by 2030 at EU level would be an additional driver for renewable gases.

A target to reduce GHG intensity in gas supply would inevitably increase the demand for biogas and biomethane, since this is one of the most efficient ways to reduce use of fossil-based gas. This target would be a clear signal to stimulate renewable and low carbon gas production and would significantly contribute to predictability and confidence among the gas value chain and investors;

 Call for the Commission to execute a regional mapping of sustainable biogas and biomethane production potential:

This mapping would assist production optimisation and serve as a basis for project development and for assessment of grid reinforcement needs. The mapping should include regional authorities, public energy agencies, national biogas associations and network operators. Moreover, in view of the current circumstances, it would be important for the EU to outline all the means to respond to the need for substitution of energy imports from Russia.

As AGRI committee Chair, I would like to ask the ITRE committee to take due account of this opinion in its reports on the proposed Gas Package regulation and directive.

Yours sincerely,

Norbert Lins

Adrián Vázquez Lázara

Annex

CONSULTATIVE WORKING PARTY

OF THE LEGAL SERVICES

Brussels, 6 December 2022

OPINION

FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

THE COUNCIL

THE COMMISSION

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council internal markets for renewable and natural gases and for hydrogen

COM(2021)804 of 15.12.2021 – 2021/0424(COD)

Having regard to the Inter-institutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts, and in particular to point 9 thereof, the Consultative Working Party consisting of the respective legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission met on 7 and 30 September 2022 for the purpose of examining the aforementioned proposal submitted by the Commission.

At those meetings, an examination of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council recasting Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks resulted in the Consultative Working Party’s establishing, by common accord, as follows.

1. The following should have been marked with the grey-shaded type generally used for identifying substantive amendments:

- in the title of the act, the replacement of the words ‘on conditions for access to' with the words ‘on the internal markets for' and the adding of the words ‘'renewable and' and ‘ and for hydrogen';

- in recital 15, the deletion of the word ‘transmission';

- in recital 16, the replacement of the final word ‘gas' with ‘gases'-,

- the entire text of Article 5(5);

- in Article 9(3), second subparagraph, the replacement of the reference made to ‘point (b) of the first subparagraph' with a reference to ‘the first subparagraph, point (a)'-,

- in Article 10(1), the word ‘or' preceding the words ‘hydrogen storage'-.

- in Article 22(1), the replacement of the words 'the transmission system operators for gas' with the words 'the ENTSO';

- in Article 22(2), the replacement of the word 'two' with the word 'four'',

- in Article 23(8), the adding of the words 'or 56';

- in Article 25, first paragraph, the replacement of the reference made to ‘Article 23’ with a reference to ‘Article 52 to 56’;

- in Article 27, the replacement of the reference made to ‘Articles 4 to 12’ with a reference to ‘Articles 21 to 23’;

- in Article 29, second paragraph, point (b), the replacement of the reference made to 'Articles 14 and 22' with a reference to 'Articles 56 and 52';

- in Article 56(3), point (a), the replacement of the reference made to ‘Articles 14 and 1 5’ with a reference to ‘Articles 5 to 7’;

- in Article 56(3), point (d), the replacement of the reference made to ‘Article 13’ with a reference to ‘Articles 15 and 16’;

- in Article 58(1), the deletion of the final words ‘Article 23’;

- in Annex 1, the deletion of point 1.9 of Annex 1 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009;

- in Annex 1, point 2.2.2.1, the replacement of the reference made to ‘Article 16(1)’ with a reference to ‘Article 5’.

2. The following should have been marked with formal adaptation signs:

- in the title of the act, the replacement of the words 'the natural gas transmission networks' with the words 'natural gases' and the deletion of the words 'and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005';

in Article 9(3), second subparagraph, the replacement of the words 'In regard to' with the words 'As regards'.

In consequence, examination of the proposal has enabled the Consultative Working Party to conclude, without dissent, that the proposal does not comprise any substantive amendments other than those identified as such. The Working Party also concluded, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier act with those substantive amendments, that the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing legal text, without any change in its substance.

F. DREXLER J.B. LAIGNELOT D. CALLEJA CRESPO

Jurisconsult acting Director-General Director-General