Germany plans to alter or repeal the country's controversial gas storage fee charged at border crossing points with neighbouring countries, a senior German official at the Economy Ministry told EU energy ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
The levy was introduced in the autumn of 2022 and reimburses the company Trading Hub Europe, which is responsible for organizing the German gas market, for costs incurred to ensure the security of the energy supply.
Getting rid of the levy would significantly reduce the costs of gas transit through Germany and support joint efforts by Germany's neighbours to move away from imported Russian gas, according to Sven Giegold, the top deputy to Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
"We will be supporting greater integration of the energy markets in Europe," Giegold said.
The levy not only affects companies and consumers in Germany, but also importers in neighbouring countries that purchase gas via German pipelines.
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic planned to raise their continued objections to the levy at the EU energy minister meeting.
Giegold said he assumes the levy will continue to be charged inside Germany to cover the costs of securing energy supplies.
The levy was last extended until April 2027. Beginning in July, it is set to rise from the current €1.86 ($2.01) to €2.50 per megawatt hour.
According to calculations by the consumer comparison website Verivox, the gas storage levy will account for around 2% of a typical German household's gas bill after the levy increases in July.
Giegold said Germany's government has agreed on repealing the levy. Because it would require a change to German law and could go into effect no earlier than the beginning of 2025.
He said that it was never the German government's intention to hinder the integration of gas markets in Europe.
"It's quite the opposite. This levy was used to finance the filling of gas storage facilities, which has helped us to maintain a more independent and stable market in Europe," he said.
Central and Eastern European countries have criticized the increased transit costs caused by the levy, which makes importing gas from Western Europe more difficult.
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has also criticized the levy and its impact on European energy markets. Simson said she sent multiple letters to Berlin over the policy.
Giegold's comments provoked some criticism from within Germany's governing coalition. Michael Kruse, a politician with the free-market liberal Free Democrats (FDP), called the remarks premature and expressed concern about the impact on German consumers.
"It must be ensured that users of German gas storage facilities from abroad receive an appropriate share of the storage levy. These costs must not be passed on to German gas customers," Kruse told dpa.
Trading Hub Europe, however, said that the impact on German gas consumers would likely be minimal, since calculations so far have assumed very low quantities of cross-border gas shipments moving through Germany.
Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler called Giegold's remarks "good news." She said that cross-border shipments of gas from Germany to Austria had fallen drastically after Germany imposed the levy, making it harder for the country to shift away from buying Russian gas.
"I am pleased that the many talks and also the pressure from neighbouring countries have helped and that the German government is now tackling this," she said.
