EC warns Romania: “Do something to avoid infringement in natural gas”

The European Commission (EC) will sue Romania at the European Court of Justice if the Parliament in Bucharest will adopt the amendments to the Emergency Ordinance 64/2016 on natural gas, EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said on Tuesday meeting in Brussels with representatives of the Romanian energy sector, agerpres.ro informs, quoted by digi24.ro.

The EU Commissioner was asked about the amendments according to which 70 percent of the gas produced in Romania will have to be traded only on the spot market of the OPCOM trading market, This comes in the context in which EC has already opened a lawsuit against Romania for blocking gas exports.

“We have a legislative energy package and one of the issues is about the market liberalization. It is a complex process with different stages of transition. In this process, EC encourages dialogue instead of going to the Court of Justice, where the procedures are long and we will waste time,” the European official said.

He pointed out that the approval of EO 64 in Parliament would have meant compliance with the European law and closure of the infringement procedure.

At the same time, Canete has shown that the existence of a single gas trading platform may affect competition in the market.

EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner also stated that Romania can use coal to produce energy, but at the same time, it must comply with the rules on pollution. Moreover, Romania will pay to use coal because it enters the ETS scheme, which will further affect sectors such as transport and agriculture.