2009 on conditions for access to natural gas transmission networks - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2022)135 - Amendment of Regulation 2017/1938 concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and 715/2009 on conditions for ...
document	COM(2022)135
date	June 29, 2022

Article 1

Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/1938

Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 is amended as follows:

(1)

in Article 2, the following points are added:

‘(27) “filling trajectory” means a series of intermediate targets for the underground gas storage facilities of each Member State, as listed in Annex Ia for 2022 and, for the following years, set in accordance with Article 6a;

(28) “filling target” means a binding target for the filling level of the aggregated capacity of the underground gas storage facilities;

(29) “strategic storage” means underground storage or part of underground storage of non-liquefied natural gas which is purchased, managed and stored by transmission systems operators, an entity designated by the Member States or an undertaking, and which may be released only after prior notification or public authority authorisation for release, and is generally released in the case of:

(a)	major supply scarcity;

(b)	a supply disruption; or

(c)	the declaration of an emergency as referred to in Article 11(1), point (c);

(30) “balancing stock” means non-liquefied natural gas which is:

(a)	purchased, managed and stored underground by transmission system operators or by an entity designated by the Member State, for the sole purposes of carrying out the functions of transmission system operators and of the security of gas supply; and

(b)	dispatched only where required to keep the system in operation under secure and reliable conditions in accordance with Article 13 of Directive 2009/73/EC and with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 312/2014;

(31) “underground gas storage facility” means a storage facility as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive 2009/73/EC that is used for the stocking of natural gas, including balancing stock, and that is connected to a transmission or distribution system, excluding above-ground spherical or linepack storage.’;

(2)

the following articles are inserted:

‘Article 6a

Filling targets and filling trajectories

1. Subject to paragraphs 2 to 5, Member States shall meet the following filling targets for the aggregated capacity of all underground gas storage facilities that are located on their territory and directly interconnected to a market area in their territory and for storage facilities listed in Annex Ib by 1 November each year:

(a)	for 2022: 80 %;

(b)	from 2023: 90 %.

For the purpose of complying with this paragraph, Member States shall take into account the objective of safeguarding the security of gas supply in the Union in accordance with Article 1.

2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and without prejudice to the obligations of other Member States to fill the underground gas storage facilities concerned, the filling target for each Member State in which the underground gas storage facilities are located shall be reduced to a volume corresponding to 35 % of the average annual gas consumption over the preceding five years for that Member State.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and without prejudice to the obligations of other Member States to fill the underground gas storage facilities concerned, the filling target for each Member State in which the underground gas storage facilities are located shall be reduced by the volume which was supplied to third countries during the reference period 2016 to 2021 if the average volume supplied was more than 15 TWh per year during the gas storage withdrawal period (October – April).

4. For the underground gas storage facilities listed in Annex Ib, the filling targets pursuant to paragraph 1 and the filling trajectories pursuant to paragraph 7 shall apply. The details of the obligations of each Member State will be determined in a bilateral agreement in accordance with Annex Ib.

5. A Member State may partially meet the filling target by counting the LNG physically stored and available in its LNG facilities if both of the following conditions are met:

(a)	the gas system includes significant capacity of LNG storage, accounting annually for more than 4 % of the average national consumption over the preceding five years;

(b)	the Member State has imposed an obligation on gas suppliers to store minimum volumes of gas in underground gas storage facilities and/or LNG facilities in accordance with Article 6b(1), point (a).

6. Member States shall take the necessary measures to meet the intermediate targets or to ensure that they are met as follows:

(a)	for 2022: as set out in Annex Ia; and

(b)	from 2023: in accordance with paragraph 7.

7. For 2023 and the following years, each Member State with underground gas storage facilities shall submit to the Commission, by 15 September of the previous year, a draft filling trajectory with intermediary targets for February, May, July and September, including technical information, for the underground gas storage facilities on its territory and directly interconnected to its market area in an aggregated form. The filling trajectory and the intermediate targets shall be based on the average filling rate during the preceding five years.

For Member States for which the filling target is reduced to 35 % of their average annual gas consumption pursuant to paragraph 2, the intermediate targets of the filling trajectory shall be reduced accordingly.

Based on the technical information provided by each Member State and taking into account the assessment of the GCG, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting the filling trajectory for each Member State. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 18a(2). They shall be adopted by 15 November of the preceding year, where necessary and including where a Member State has submitted an updated draft filling trajectory. They shall be based on an assessment of the general security of gas supply situation and the development of gas demand and supply in the Union and individual Member States, and set in a manner that safeguards the security of gas supply, while avoiding unnecessary burdens on Member States, gas market participants, storage system operators or customers and not unduly distorting competition between storage facilities located in neighbouring Member States.

8. Where, in any given year, a Member State is not able to meet its filling target by 1 November due to the specific technical characteristics of one or more underground gas storage facilities within its territory, such as exceptionally low injection rates, it shall be allowed to meet it by 1 December. The Member State shall inform the Commission by 1 November, providing reasons for the delay.

9. The filling target shall not apply where and for as long as the Commission has declared a regional or Union emergency pursuant to Article 12 at the request, as the case may be, of one or more Member States that have declared a national emergency.

10. The competent authority of each Member State shall continuously monitor compliance with the filling trajectory and shall report regularly to the GCG. If the filling level of a given Member State is more than five percentage points below the level of the filling trajectory, the competent authority shall, without delay, take effective measures to increase it. Member States shall inform the Commission and the GCG of the measures taken.

11. In the event of a substantial and sustained deviation by a Member State from the filling trajectory, which compromises the meeting of the filling target or in the event of a deviation from the filling target, the Commission shall, after consulting the GCG and the Member States concerned, issue a recommendation to that Member State or to the other Member States concerned regarding measures to be taken immediately.

Where the deviation is not significantly reduced within one month of receipt of the Commission’s recommendation, the Commission shall, after consulting the GCG and the Member State concerned, take a decision as a measure of last resort to require the Member State concerned to take measures that effectively remedy the deviation, including, where appropriate, one or more of the measures provided for in Article 6b(1), or any other measure to ensure that the filling target pursuant to this Article is met.

In deciding which measures to take pursuant to the second subparagraph, the Commission shall take into account the specific situation of the Member States concerned, such as the size of the underground gas storage facilities in relation to the domestic gas consumption, the importance of the underground gas storage facilities for the security of gas supply in the region and any existing LNG storage facilities.

Any measures taken by the Commission to address deviations from the filling trajectory or the filling target for 2022 shall take into account the short timeframe for the implementation of this Article at national level, which may have contributed to the deviation from the filling trajectory or the filling target for 2022.

The Commission shall ensure that the measures taken pursuant to this paragraph do not:

(a)	go beyond what is necessary to safeguard the security of gas supply;

(b)	place a disproportionate burden on Member States, gas market participants, storage system operators or customers.

Article 6b

Implementation of filling targets

1. Member States shall take all necessary measures, including providing for financial incentives or compensation to market participants, to meet the filling targets set pursuant to Article 6a. When ensuring that the filling targets are met, Member States shall prioritise, where possible, market-based measures.

To the extent that any of the measures provided for in this Article are duties and powers of the national regulatory authority pursuant to Article 41 of Directive 2009/73/EC, the national regulatory authorities shall be responsible for taking those measures.

Measures taken pursuant to this paragraph may, in particular, include:

(a)	requiring gas suppliers to store minimum volumes of gas in storage facilities, including in underground gas storage facilities and/or in LNG storage facilities, those volumes to be determined on the basis of the amount of gas supplied by gas suppliers to protected customers;

(b)	requiring storage system operators to tender their capacities to market participants;

(c)

requiring transmission system operators or entities designated by the Member State to purchase and manage balancing stock exclusively for carrying out their functions as transmission system operators and, where necessary, imposing an obligation on other designated entities for the purpose of safeguarding the security of gas supply in the case of an emergency as referred to in Article 11(1), point (c);

(d)	using coordinated instruments, such as platforms for the purchase of LNG, with other Member States to maximise the utilisation of LNG and to reduce infrastructure and regulatory barriers to the shared use of LNG to fill underground gas storage facilities;

(e)	using voluntary mechanisms for the joint procurement of natural gas, regarding the application of which the Commission may, if necessary, issue guidance by 1 August 2022;

(f)

providing financial incentives for market participants, including for storage system operators, such as contracts for difference, or providing compensation to market participants for the shortfall in revenues or for costs incurred by them as a result of obligations on market participants, including storage system operators which cannot be covered by revenue;

(g)	requiring storage capacity holders to use or release unused booked capacities, while still obliging the storage capacity holder not using the storage capacity to pay the agreed price for the whole term of the storage contract;

(h)	adopting effective instruments for the purchase and management of strategic storage by public or private entities, provided that such instruments do not distort competition or the proper functioning of the internal market;

(i)	appointing a dedicated entity tasked with meeting the filling target in the event that the filling target would not otherwise be met;

(j)	providing discounts on storage tariffs;

(k)

collecting the revenues needed to recover the capital and operational expenditures related to regulated storage facilities as storage tariffs and as a dedicated charge incorporated into transmission tariffs collected only from exit points to final customers located within the same Member States, provided that revenues collected through tariffs are not larger than the allowed revenues.

2. The measures taken by the Member States pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be limited to what is necessary to meet the filling trajectories and filling targets. They shall be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory and verifiable. They shall not unduly distort competition or the proper functioning of the internal market in gas or endanger the security of gas supply of other Member States or of the Union.

3. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure the use of the existing infrastructure at national and regional level for the benefit of the security of gas supply in an efficient way. Those measures shall under no circumstances block or restrict the cross-border use of storage facilities or LNG facilities and shall not limit cross-border transmission capacities allocated in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/459 (*1).

4. When taking measures pursuant to this Article, Member States shall apply the energy efficiency first principle, while still achieving the objectives of their respective measures, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*2).

Article 6c

Storage arrangements and burden-sharing mechanism

1. A Member State without underground gas storage facilities shall ensure that market participants within that Member State have in place arrangements with underground storage system operators or other market participants in Member States with underground gas storage facilities. Those arrangements shall provide for the use, by 1 November, of storage volumes corresponding to at least 15 % of the average annual gas consumption over the preceding five years of the Member State without underground gas storage facilities. However, where cross-border transmission capacity or other technical limitations prevent a Member State without underground gas storage facilities from fully using 15 % of those storage volumes, that Member State shall store only those volumes that are technically possible.

In the event that technical limitations do not allow a Member State to comply with the obligation laid down in the first subparagraph, and that Member State has in place an obligation to store other fuels to replace gas, the obligation laid down in the first subparagraph may exceptionally be met by an equivalent obligation to store fuels other than gas. The technical limitations and the equivalence of the measure shall be demonstrated by the Member State concerned.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a Member State without underground gas storage facilities may develop a burden-sharing mechanism with one or more Member States with underground gas storage facilities (burden-sharing mechanism).

The burden-sharing mechanism shall be based on the relevant data from the latest risk assessment pursuant to Article 7 and shall take into account all of the following parameters:

(a)	the cost of financial support for meeting the filling target, exclusive of the costs of meeting any strategic storage obligations;

(b)	the gas volumes needed to meet the demand of protected customers in accordance with Article 6(1);

(c)	any technical limitations, including the available underground storage capacity, technical cross-border transmission capacity and withdrawal rates.

Member States shall notify the burden-sharing mechanism to the Commission by 2 September 2022. In the absence of an agreement on a burden sharing mechanism by that date, Member States without underground gas storage facilities shall demonstrate that they comply with paragraph 1 and shall notify the Commission accordingly.

3. As a transitional measure, Member States without underground gas storage facilities, but which have underground gas storage facilities included in the last list of projects of common interest referred to in Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*3) may partially comply with paragraph 1 by counting LNG stocks in existing floating storage units, until their underground gas storage facilities are in operation.

4. Member States without underground gas storage facilities may provide incentives or financial compensation to market participants or transmission system operators, as relevant, for the shortfall in revenues, or for costs incurred by them, as a result of their compliance with their storage obligations pursuant to this Article, where such a shortfall or such costs cannot be covered by revenue, in order to ensure compliance with their obligation to store gas in other Member States pursuant to paragraph 1 or the implementation of the burden-sharing mechanism. If the incentive or financial compensation is financed through a levy, that levy shall not be applied to cross-border interconnection points.

5. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a Member State has underground gas storage facilities located on its territory and the aggregated capacity of those facilities is larger than the annual gas consumption of that Member State, the Member States without underground gas storage facilities that have access to those facilities shall either:

(a)

ensure that by 1 November storage volumes correspond at least to the average usage of the storage capacity over the preceding five years, determined, inter alia, by taking into account the flows during withdrawal season over the preceding five years from the Member States where the storage facilities are located; or

(b)	demonstrate that storage capacity equivalent to the volume covered by the obligation under point (a) has been booked.

If the Member State without underground gas storage facilities can demonstrate that storage capacity equivalent to the volume covered by the obligation under point (a) of the first subparagraph has been booked, paragraph 1 shall apply.

The obligation under this paragraph shall be limited to 15 % of the average annual gas consumption over the preceding five years in the Member State concerned.

6. Unless otherwise specified in Annex Ib, in the case of underground gas storage facilities located in one Member State that are not covered by paragraph 5 but that are directly connected to the market area of another Member State, that other Member State shall ensure that by 1 November storage volumes correspond to at least the average of the storage capacity booked at the relevant cross-border point over the preceding five years.

Article 6d

Monitoring and enforcement

1. Storage system operators shall report the filling level to the competent authority in each Member State where the underground gas storage facilities concerned are located and, if applicable, to an entity designated by that Member State (the “designated entity”) as follows:

(a)	for 2022: on each of the intermediate targets set out in Annex Ia; and

(b)	from 2023: as set pursuant to Article 6a(4).

2. The competent authority and, if applicable, the designated entity of each Member State shall monitor the filling levels of the underground gas storage facilities on their territory at the end of each month and report the results to the Commission without undue delay.

The Commission may, where appropriate, invite the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to assist with such monitoring.

3. Based on the information provided by the competent authority and, if applicable, the designated entity of each Member State, the Commission shall report regularly to the GCG.

4. The GCG shall assist the Commission in the monitoring of the filling trajectories and the filling targets, and shall develop guidance for the Commission on adequate measures to ensure compliance in the event that Member States deviate from the filling trajectories or do not meet the filling targets.

5. Member States shall take the necessary measures to meet the filling trajectories and the filling targets and to enforce upon market participants the storage obligations which are required to meet them, including by imposing sufficiently deterrent sanctions and fines on those market participants.

Member States shall inform the Commission without delay of the enforcement measures taken pursuant to this paragraph.

6. Where commercially sensitive information is to be exchanged, the Commission may convene meetings of the GCG that are restricted to itself and Member States.

7. Any information exchanged shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purpose of monitoring compliance with this Regulation.

The Commission, the national regulatory authorities and the Member States shall preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information received for the purposes of carrying out their obligations.

(*1)  Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/459 of 16 March 2017 establishing a network code on capacity allocation mechanisms in gas transmission systems and repealing Regulation (EU) No 984/2013 (OJ L 72, 17.3.2017, p. 1)."

(*2)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 1)."

(*3)  Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2009, (EU) 2019/942 and (EU) 2019/943 and Directives 2009/73/EC and (EU) 2019/944, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 (OJ L 152, 3.6.2022, p. 45).’;"

(3)

Article 7 is amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. By 1 September 2022, ENTSOG shall carry out a Union-wide simulation of gas supply and infrastructure disruption scenarios, including scenarios of aprolongeddisruption of a single supply source. The simulation shall include the identification and assessment of emergency gas supply corridors and shall also identify which Member States can address identified risks, including in relation to LNG. The gas supply and infrastructure disruption scenarios and the methodology for the simulation shall be defined by ENTSOG in cooperation with the GCG. ENTSOG shall ensure an appropriate level of transparency and access to the modelling assumptions used in its scenarios. The Union-wide simulation of gas supply and infrastructure disruption scenarios shall be repeated every four years unless circumstances warrant more frequent updates.’;

(b)

in paragraph 4, the following point is added:

‘(g)	taking into account scenarios of a prolongeddisruption of a single supply source.’;

(4)

in Article 16, the following paragraph is added:

‘3. Member States shall ensure storage obligations under this Regulation are met by using storage facilities in the Union. However, Member States and the Energy Community Contracting Parties’ cooperation may include voluntary arrangements to use storage capacity provided by Energy Community Contracting Parties to store additional volumes of gas for the Member States.’;

(5)

the following article is inserted:

‘Article 17a

Commission reporting

1. By 28 February 2023 and annually thereafter, the Commission shall submit reports to the European Parliament and to the Council, containing:

(a)	an overview of the measures taken by Member States to fulfil the storage obligations;

(b)	an overview of the time needed for the certification procedure set out in Article 3a of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009;

(c)	an overview of the measures requested by the Commission in order to ensure compliance with the filling trajectories and the filling targets;

(d)	an analysis of the potential effects of this Regulation on gas prices and potential gas savings in relation to Article 6b(4).’;

(6)

the following article is inserted:

‘Article 18a

Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*4).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

(*4) Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).’;"

(7)	in Article 20, the following paragraph is added: ‘4. Articles 6a to 6d shall not apply to Ireland, Cyprus or Malta for as long as they are not directly interconnected to the gas interconnected system of any other Member States.’;

(8)	in Article 22, the following paragraph is added: ‘Article 2, points (27) to (31), Articles 6a to 6d, Article 16(3), Article 17a, Article 18a, Article 20(4), and Annexes Ia and Ib shall apply until 31 December 2025.’;

(9)	the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation is inserted as Annexes Ia and Ib.

Article 2

Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009

Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 is amended as follows:

(1)

the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 3a

Certification of storage system operators

1. Member States shall ensure that each storage system operator, including any storage system operator controlled by a transmission system operator, is certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Article, either by the national regulatory authority or by another competent authority designated by the Member State concerned pursuant to Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*5) (in either case, “certifying authority”).

This Article also applies to storage system operators controlled by transmission system operators which have already been certified under the unbundling rules laid down in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of Directive 2009/73/EC.

2. The certifying authority shall issue a draft certification decision in respect of storage system operators that operate underground gas storage facilities with a capacity of over 3,5 TWh where, regardless of the number of storage system operators, total storage facilities were filled on 31 March 2021 and on 31 March 2022 at a level which, on average, was less than 30 % of their maximum capacity by 1 February 2023 or within 150 working days of the date of receipt of a notification pursuant to paragraph 9.

In respect of storage system operators as referred to in the first subparagraph, the certifying authority shall make its best efforts to issue a draft certification decision by 1 November 2022.

In respect of all other storage system operators, the certifying authority shall issue a draft certification decision by 2 January 2024 or within 18 months of the date of receipt of a notification pursuant to paragraph 8 or 9.

3. In considering the risk to the security of energy supply in the Union, the certifying authority shall take into account any security of gas supply risk at national, regional or Union-wide level as well as any mitigation of such risk, resulting, inter alia, from:

(a)	ownership, supply or other commercial relationships that could negatively affect the incentives and the ability of the storage system operator to fill the underground gas storage facility;

(b)	the rights and obligations of the Union with respect to a third country arising under international law, including any agreement concluded with one or more third countries to which the Union is a party and which addresses the issue of the security of energy supply;

(c)	the rights and obligations of the Member States concerned with respect to a third country arising under agreements concluded by the Member States concerned with one or more third countries, in so far as those agreements comply with Union law; or

(d)	any other specific facts and circumstances of the case.

4. If the certifying authority concludes that a person who directly or indirectly controls, or exercises any right over, the storage system operator within the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 2009/73/EC could endanger the security of energy supply or the essential security interests of the Union or of any Member State, the certifying authority shall refuse the certification. Alternatively, the certifying authority may issue a certification decision subject to conditions to ensure the sufficient mitigation of the risks which could negatively influence the filling of the underground gas storage facilities, provided that the practicability of the conditions can be fully ensured by effective implementation and monitoring. Such conditions may include, in particular, a requirement that the storage system owner or storage system operator transfer management of the storage system.

5. Where the certifying authority concludes that the gas supply risks cannot be mitigated by conditions pursuant to paragraph 4, including by requiring the storage system owner or storage system operator to transfer management of the storage system, and therefore refuses the certification, it shall:

(a)

require the storage system owner or storage system operator or any person that it considers could endanger the security of energy supply or the essential security interests of the Union or of any Member State to dispose of the shareholding or rights they have over the storage system ownership or storage system operator ownership, and set a time limit for such disposal;

(b)	order, where appropriate, interim measures, to ensure that such a person is not able to exercise any control or right over that storage system owner or storage system operator until the disposal of the shareholding or rights; and

(c)	provide for appropriate compensatory measures in accordance with national law.

6. The certifying authority shall notify its draft certification decision to the Commission without delay, together with all relevant information.

The Commission shall deliver an opinion on the draft certification decision to the certifying authority within 25 working days of such notification. The certifying authority shall take the utmost account of the Commission’s opinion.

7. The certifying authority shall issue the certification decision within 25 working days of receipt of the Commission’s opinion.

8. Before a newly built underground gas storage facility is put into operation, the storage system operator shall be certified in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 7. The storage system operator shall notify the certifying authority of its intention to put the storage facility into operation.

9. Storage system operators shall notify the relevant certifying authority of any planned transaction which would require a reassessment of their compliance with the certification requirements set out in paragraphs 1 to 4.

10. Certifying authorities shall continuously monitor storage system operators as regards compliance with the certification requirements set out in paragraphs 1 to 4. They shall open a certification procedure to reassess compliance in any of the following circumstances:

(a)	upon receipt of a notification by the storage system operator pursuant to paragraph 8 or 9;

(b)	on their own initiative where they have knowledge that a planned change in rights or in influence over a storage system operator could lead to non-compliance with the requirements of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3;

(c)	upon a reasoned request from the Commission.

11. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure the continuous operation of the underground gas storage facilities on their respective territories. Those underground gas storage facilities may cease operations only where technical and safety requirements are not met or where the certifying authority concludes, after having conducted an assessment and having taken into account the opinion of ENTSO for Gas, that such a cessation would not weaken the security of gas supply at Union or national level.

Appropriate compensatory measures shall be taken, where appropriate, if cessation of operations is not allowed.

12. The Commission may issue guidance on the application of this Article.

13. This Article shall not apply to parts of LNG facilities that are used for storage.

(*5) Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2017 concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and repealing Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 (OJ L 280, 28.10.2017, p. 1).’."

(2)

in Article 13, the following paragraph is added:

‘3. The national regulatory authority may apply a discount of up to 100 % to capacity-based transmission and distribution tariffs at entry points from, and exit points to, underground gas storage facilities and LNG facilities, unless and to the extent that such a facility which is connected to more than one transmission or distribution network is used to compete with an interconnection point.

This paragraph shall apply until 31 December 2025.’.

Article 3

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.