The EU could have reacted confidently to Russia's invasion of Ukraine if the member states had filled their natural gas storage facilities sufficiently before last winter.

This applies not only to the storage facilities operated by Gazprom itself.

After all, the storage tanks contribute 30 percent to the gas supply in “normal” winters.

The European Commission therefore proposed a law for minimum filling levels in March.

In record time, just a few weeks later, negotiators from the EU Parliament and the Council of Ministers have now agreed on the law.

The storage tanks must be 80 percent full by November 1 of this year.

Even 90 percent are planned for the next few years.

However, this should only apply – at least initially – temporarily.

The minimum requirements for storage should expire at the end of 2025.

Henrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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With their agreement, the negotiators largely followed the Commission's proposal, but weakened it on a number of points.

This includes the expiry date for the fill levels.

In addition, they are capped at 35 percent of the average annual consumption over the past five years so as not to overwhelm countries with large storage facilities.

LPG stocks and other gases are to be counted.

In addition, Malta, Cyprus and Ireland are excluded because they are not connected to the rest of the gas network.

States that do not have their own storage facilities should store 15 percent of their average annual consumption over the past five years with others and contribute financially to the storage.

Currently 18 of the 27 Member States have their own storage facilities.

However, almost three quarters of the total storage capacity is concentrated in five states.

In addition to Germany, these are Italy, France, the Netherlands and Austria.

Gas storage facilities that are important for supply are to be inspected by the member states within 150 days.

If it turns out that they pose a threat to security of supply, the storage operators' licenses can be revoked.

They then have to sell their shares or can be expropriated.

Little will change for Germany with the new EU law.

A new gas storage law has been in force in this country since April 30, which prescribes a minimum fill level of 90 percent by the beginning of November this year.

The agreement also contains a clear commitment to the joint purchase of gas by the member states.

From August onwards, several states are to join forces.

The commission should present a kind of "instructions" for this by then.

But this remains strictly voluntary.

Germany in particular is skeptical about joint gas purchasing.

Most recently, however, the federal government said that a lot depends on the cut.

The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament still have to officially confirm the agreement on gas storage levels.

But that is considered a formality.