Gas supply – The Bern-Berlin solidarity agreement must be validated by the EU

– The Bern-Berlin solidarity agreement must be validated by the EU

Before being signed, the gas solidarity agreement between Switzerland and Germany must be submitted to the European Commission for a preliminary examination.

Published: 20.07.2022, 9:57 p.m.

Discussions are also underway with France and Italy.

AFP/Yves Herman

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The first phase of negotiations between Germany and Switzerland on a gas solidarity agreement has taken place, authorities announced on Wednesday. Before being signed, however, the agreement must be submitted to the European Commission for a preliminary examination.

Under new legislation in force since November 1, 2017 – known in the jargon as the SOS Regulation – “Member States are required to submit their intergovernmental energy agreements with third countries to the Commission before they are concluded”, writes the Commission on his website. In doing so, Member States will have to ‘take into account the opinion of the Commission on all points’.

Do not endanger EU supply

With this compulsory preliminary examination, the European Commission wants to prevent “intergovernmental energy agreements from endangering the security of supply of the EU and the functioning of the internal market”, continues the text.

This preliminary examination should also be important for the future agreement between Switzerland and Germany, because the European Commission has set clear rules for solidarity agreements – for example when a state is entitled to help from other countries and how to proceed in such a case.

Also with France and Italy

Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga, Economy Minister Guy Parmelin and German Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in mid-May in Davos that they wanted to negotiate a gas solidarity agreement.

Discussions are also underway with France and Italy, the Federal Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) wrote on Wednesday.

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