Early check of oil and gas contracts vital for Energy Union

“It is a significant political achievement that all intergovernmental agreements on oil and gas contracts agreed between EU Member States and third countries have to be assessed by the European Commission beforehand. This will increase transparency on the gas and oil markets and guarantee that energy contracts are in line with the EU law”, said Valdimir Urutchev MEP, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur, before tomorrow’s vote on the Information Exchange Mechanism with regard to intergovernmental agreements and non-binding instruments in the field of energy.

The vote also marks the first dossier from the Energy Union Strategy on which an agreement has been reached.

“The ex-ante check of contracts will equally increase Member States’ negotiating power vis-à-vis third countries and strengthen the EU’s resilience to gas and oil supply disruptions", said Urutchev.

The increased transparency in intergovernmental contracts with third countries underpins the objective of ensuring secure energy supplies for all of the EU and the Energy Community.