Article 6d Monitoring and enforcement

Storage system operators shall report the filling level, as set pursuant to Article 6a, 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’).

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 competent authority shall include information on the share of gas originating in Russia that is being stored in that Member State as part of the working capacity of storage facilities, where such information is available.

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.

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 better alignment in the event that Member States deviate from the filling trajectories compromising the meeting of the filling target, or to ensure that the filling target is met. Where appropriate, the Commission may adopt measures to make more effective use of the opportunities offered by the demand aggregation and joint purchasing mechanism set up under Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2576 ( 6 ).

Member States shall take the necessary measures to meet the filling target and to enforce upon market participants the storage obligations which are required to meet the filling target, including by imposing sufficiently deterrent sanctions and fines on those market participants. This is without prejudice to the role of the Commission to monitor and ensure proper application of this Regulation, including in providing assistance or guidance to the Member States in their efforts to implement this paragraph.

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

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