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Romania, sued at ECJ on the security of the natural gas supply
Romania completed its national emergency plan on the natural gas supply on June 17, sent it to the European Commission and notified the relevant authorities in Hungary and Bulgaria, in accordance with the EU Regulation no. 994/2010, the Ministry of Energy, SMEs and Business Environment (MEIMMMA) announced on last Thursday.
The European Commission has sued Romania on Thursday at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for not adopting an emergency plan in compliance with the aforementioned EU Regulation on the security of the natural gas supply.
MEIMMMA will pass and publish the final form of the emergency plan after getting the answers of the EC and of the neighbouring countries.
"The MEIMMMA has completed the Emergency Plan on June 17 and the document was sent to the European Commission. Moreover, the relevant authorities of Hungary and Bulgaria have been notified for consultations, in accordance with the procedure set in the EU Regulation no. 994/2010," a ministry's release reads.
The Regulation aims at guaranteeing the preparedness of the EU member states for any supply disruptions. National emergency plans set the measures and procedures enforced in case of gas supply interruptions and should be well-coordinated with the neighbouring member states. Every EU country should have adopted its plan by December 3 2012.
In November 2013, the Commission sent to Romania a letter of formal notice on the country's failure to endorse an emergency national plan. In November 2014, the Commission issued a reasoned opinion, since Romania was still in non-compliance with the said Regulation. On October 16 2014, the Commission published a release on the stress tests that analyse the effects of possible total or partial interruptions of the natural gas supply from Russia. Currently, the Commission works to a revision of the Regulation; this does not imply, however, the possibility of suspending the application. Therefore, the Commission continues its efforts to encourage a better observance of the provisions in force.