Access to Gas Transmission Pipelines

Speaker: Mr Jacques Laurelut, Vice-President of GTE

This event took place in the context of the ongoing institutional discussion concerning the achievement of the internal gas market: 
• The Internal Gas Market Directive has been adopted by the Parliament in June 2003; 
• The Parliament is to adopt the Directive for security of natural gas supply in spring 2004; 
• Additional regulation concerning access to transmission pipelines is currently under discussion.

Complementary to the discussion which took place on 28th January 2004 [Gas Transmission Issues in the Enlarged European Union : “Keeping Natural Gas on Track”], interested MEPs, Commission officials and regulatory authorities and all involved parties were invited to an exchange of views on access to the gas transmission pipelines.

Guidelines for Good Practice agreed in September 2003 are being implemented by the TSOs. The need for additional regulation has still to be analysed. A number of questions are at stake and opinions of the European Commission and of involved industrial operators are still conflicting.